Vaccination And Parental Hesitancy

By Scott Valenti

JRN100 Journalist

 

Andrea and Greg Spano of North Reading enthusiastically rolled up their sleeves to get their Covid-19 vaccines as soon as they were eligible. But as with many parents, they’re feeling more cautious about getting the vaccines for their children.

“I’m not so worried about myself, but I want my kids to be healthy. But what worries me is, the vaccine is so new that I don’t know if there will be any significant long-term effects that will occur from my kids getting vaccinated," said Andrea Spano.

Despite the concerns, the Spanos said they plan to have their children vaccinated.

“As of right now, I would still get my children vaccinated not because I’m very worried that they are going to get very sick. I’m more worried about them spreading the virus to other people,” Andrea Spano said.

The Spanos aren’t alone with their worries about the Covid-19 vaccine when it’s available to their children. Researchers recently surveyed 19,700 parents in the United States and found there was relevance to whether a parent is going to get their child vaccinated and the individual’s age. 

The person’s educational background was also a key factor in the decision-making within groups. 

According to the study The COVID States Project #45: Vaccine hesitancy and resistance amongst parents, gender plays a role.

“Mothers are more skeptical of vaccines than fathers: 27% of mothers say they are extremely unlikely to vaccinate their children versus 14% of fathers,” the study found.

“This is consistent with general gender patterns in cases of risk and uncertainty,” said IPR political scientist James Druckman, who is part of the survey tracking Americans’ attitudes about COVID-19.

Druckman notes that to encourage the majority of the population to be vaccinated, officials first need to understand why people are skeptical about the vaccine in the first place.

“It makes clear there is a need to understand the concerns that drive the hesitancy and try to alleviate them,” Druckman said.

The study also noted that there was a significant difference in hesitancy between parent age ranges as well.

“Younger mothers aged 18–35 (32%) are significantly less willing to vaccinate their children than older mothers (23%),” the study found.

 

Along with this age discrepancy, it should be noted that overall a minority of parents were unwilling to get their children vaccinated. It was also discovered that when it came to the age range of kids (kids up to 12 years old versus 13-17), there was the same level of reluctance to have their children vaccinated: about 20%.

 

According to another study called The COVID States Project #43: COVID-19 vaccine rates and attitudes among Americans, education and the individual’s income level are also contributing factors.

“Among parents without a 4-year college degree, nearly three-quarters (72%) are hesitant and resistant, compared to roughly half (55%) of adults who did not have a 4-year college degree without children,” the study found.

“Education and income influence support for vaccines. Parents with less education and lower incomes are also more vaccine-hesitant and resistant than other adults,” the study found.

People with a lower income are more hesitant to get the vaccine for themselves and their children when it becomes available to them.

“Parents and non-parents earning less than $75,000 per year have the largest gap—10 percentage points—in vaccine acceptance. Higher earning parents showed no significant difference in vaccine hesitancy versus adults without children,” the study found.

Racial groups play a factor as well.

“Asian Americans are most likely to embrace the vaccine. Black Americans remain the most hesitant and resistant, with nearly three-quarters of Black parents (73%) being vaccine-hesitant compared to 57% of Black adults without children," the study said.

There was also a panel for the Human Vaccine Program study that was created to give insight into some of the reasons why people would be hesitant to get the Covid-19 vaccine. According to expert Professor Barry Bloom of Harvard University, another factor which may play a role is related to which group of people that the disease has the biggest impact on.

Bloom said, “One of the reasons for there being vaccine hesitancy is the group of people who are at the most risk is not children and they (the parents) seem to be resistant towards getting the vaccine,” Bloom said.

Parents see older adults as most at risk, and as a result, parents are not as worried about getting their children vaccinated or themselves.

During the panel, Professor of Harvard Chan School Department of Epidemiology, Wayne Koff, said people are uncertain of the vaccine since it was only recently created.

“Despite there being promising results, we don’t know at this point in time how well the vaccines are going to work in the elderly. We don’t know how long the protective efficiency of the vaccines will be,” Koff said.

Some people are hesitant because they are not aware of the vaccines’ safety.

Koff said, “These vaccines are extremely safe. As more and more information is gathered about the vaccines over time, I think we are going to learn a lot more about these in terms of safety.”

This hesitancy was reflected by other parents with similar concerns about the vaccine. Andrea and Greg Spano echoed those concerns but said that they will get their children vaccinated.

Andrea Spano said, “I am nervous about the long-term effects that could occur from the vaccine.” Andrea Spano said, “As of right now, I would still get my children vaccinated not because I’m very worried that they are going to get very sick. I’m more worried about them spreading it to other people.”

Greg Spano said he was less concerned about long-term issues.

“I’m not so worried about getting my kids vaccinated, I trust that they will be safe when the vaccine becomes available for them.”

“You got to take a leap of faith, despite there being the risk that is present with any new vaccine,” Greg Spano said.