More than 40% of parents with kids under 5 years old do not want to vaccinate them against COVID-19, according to a survey published Tuesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The poll found 43% of parents with kids ages 6 months to 4 years old responded “definitely not” when asked if their children had at least one dose of a COVID vaccine or if they would get the vaccine.
The Food and Drug Administration issued in June an emergency use authorization for the vaccine to be provided to children between the ages of 6 months and 17 years.
Kaiser survey analysts pointed to a partisan divide among parents’ responses to getting their kids vaccinated.
“About one-in-seven (15%) Democratic or Democratic-leaning parents with a child under age 5 say their young child has already gotten at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, compared to just three percent of Republican or Republican-leaning parents,” the analysts said on the foundation’s website. “Moreover, Republican and Republican-leaning parents are three times as likely as their Democratic counterparts to say they will “definitely not” be vaccinating their young child for COVID-19 (64% vs. 21%).”
The survey, conducted July 7-17, came within the first month after the FDA’s emergency authorization and surveyed 1,847 adults online and by telephone with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
The Kaiser Family Foundation talked to 471 people with a child under 5 years old and assigned a margin of error of plus or minus 8 percentage points to their responses.
For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 resource page.
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.
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