A new Gallup poll shows strong reluctance among parents about getting COVID-19 vaccines for their children, especially infants and toddlers.
Gallup reported Friday that 57% of parents of children under age 5 do not intend to get them vaccinated, two months after the Food and Drug Administration authorized emergency use for this age group. Another 29% of parents plan to get the vaccines for their kids, and 14% have already done so.
Among parents with children aged 5 to 18, 44% do not propose to have their children vaccinated. Another 52% have already done so, and 4% are planning on it.
Gallup noted that parents of young children are not “rushing” to get them immunized even though most Americans expect at least a moderate increase of COVID infections in the fall and winter.
“This may be owed to parents’ concern about how the vaccine will affect their child or the fact that the risk of serious disease in children remains low as compared with adults,” Gallup reported.
According to the poll, 41% of Americans have tested positive for the virus and 14% believe they got infected without testing positive. The remaining 45% of adults say they have never tested positive for COVID-19.
The company conducted a randomized national web survey of 3,682 members of its Gallup Panel from July 26 to Aug. 2. The margin of error for all respondents was plus or minus 2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 resource page.
• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.
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