Story at a glance
- Nearly half of the parents surveyed with children between 12 and 17 say their teens are already vaccinated or will get a shot soon.
- Hispanic and Black parents were more likely than white parents to have concerns over access-related barriers.
- A majority of Black, white and Hispanic parents support mask requirements.
More than half of the parents of teenagers surveyed in a new Kaiser Family Foundation poll oppose requiring vaccinations against COVID-19 in order to send students back to school, with many concerned about long term and side effects saying they want to “wait and see.”
“Children in this age group are less at risk than vaccinated adults,” said one Hispanic mother in Arizona who said she will not get her child vaccinated. Hispanic and Black parents were more likely than white parents to have concerns over access related barriers, such as getting time off work, paying out-of-pocket costs and traveling to a trusted provider for the vaccination. “Getting struck by lightning or winning the lottery are greater chances than death or serious illness from COVID in this age range.”
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Hispanic parents are more evenly divided on mandates, however, while a majority of both Black and white parents oppose vaccine requirements. But while a majority of Black and Hispanic parents support mask requirements, just over half of white parents do.
“Despite controversy around the country about masks in schools, most parents want their school to require masks of unvaccinated students and staff,” KFF President and CEO Drew Altman said in a release. “At the same time, most parents don’t want their schools to require their kids get a COVID-19 vaccine despite their effectiveness in combatting COVID-19.”
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Still, nearly half of the parents surveyed with children between 12 and 17 say their children are already vaccinated or will get a shot soon. Democrats, more educated, higher income and older parents were more likely to say their eligible children have been vaccinated as a whole, as well as parents who regularly get their children a flu shot.
Parents’ own vaccination status is often revealing of the stance they take toward vaccinating their children. Six out of 10 parents report being vaccinated for COVID-19, but while 4 in 10 parents say their child has received at least one dose of the vaccine, 6 in 10 vaccinated parents say their child has received the vaccine and half of unvaccinated parents say “definitely not.”
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