Nov. 24, 2021– As vaccinations amongst youngsters ages 5-11 decide up steam, a major variety of dad and mom say they are not looking for their youngsters vaccinated.
In a ballot of WebMD readers, 49% of these responding who’ve youngsters in that age group say they are not looking for their little children to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
On Nov. 2, CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, endorsed an company advisory panel’s advice that youngsters 5-11 be vaccinated with the Pfizer pediatric vaccine. That call expanded vaccine suggestions to about 28 million youngsters in the US.
Vaccinations among the many lately eligible 5- to 11-year-olds have steadily elevated after a considerably sluggish begin. At first, the tempo was behind that of the 12- to 15-years-olds by the primary week of eligibility, however it has since closed the hole, primarily based on knowledge from the CDC’s COVID Information Tracker.
Altogether, simply over 3 million youngsters ages 5-11 have acquired not less than one dose, which is 10.7% of that age group’s whole inhabitants.
The CDC says that the Pfizer vaccine was greater than 90% efficient in stopping COVID-19 an infection in youngsters 5 to fifteen years previous, and that the immune response in youngsters ages 5-15 equaled the immune response in individuals 16 to 25 years previous.
Amongst individuals general within the WebMD ballot, 56% mentioned they had been assured or considerably assured that the vaccine is secure for that age group.
Amongst adolescents and younger adults, uncommon instances of myocarditis and pericarditis have been reported. According to the CDC, “[I]n one research, the chance of myocarditis after the second dose of Pfizer-BioNTech within the week following vaccination was round 54 instances per million doses administered to males ages 12-17 years.”
Recognized and potential advantages of COVID-19 vaccination outweigh the dangers, together with the doable danger for myocarditis or pericarditis, the CDC says.
Issues Additionally Amongst Medical doctors, Nurses
A companion ballot of docs and nurses on Medscape, WebMD’s sister website for well being care professionals, additionally discovered vital hesitation to the kids’s vaccines.
Amongst docs who’ve youngsters in that age group, 30% of respondents mentioned they might not need their youngsters to be vaccinated; 9% had been uncertain. For nurses and superior observe registered nurses (APRNs), 45% mentioned they didn’t need their youngsters to get the COVID-19 vaccine; 13% had been uncertain. Amongst pharmacists, 31% mentioned they might not get them vaccinated and 9% had been uncertain.
How Protected Is the Vaccine?
Clinicians had been requested how assured they had been that the vaccine is secure for that age group, and 66% of physicians, 52% of nurses/APRNs, and 66% of pharmacists mentioned they had been considerably or very assured.
Throughout clinician varieties, ladies edged out their male counterparts on confidence within the vaccine’s security: 71% vs. 65% amongst docs, 55% vs. 45% amongst nurses/APRNs, and 68% vs. 60% amongst pharmacists.
Amongst each docs and nurses, youthful docs (beneath 45) tended to have better confidence within the vaccine’s security: 72% vs 64% (docs), 54% vs 51% (nurses/APRNs), and 71% vs 59% (pharmacists).
The distinction in confidence was clear between vaccinated and unvaccinated docs. The entire unvaccinated docs who responded to the ballot mentioned they’d no confidence within the vaccine for teenagers. Amongst unvaccinate
