Nearly Half of Parents of Adolescents Ages 12-17 Say Their Child Got a COVID-19 Vaccine Already; a Third of Parents of Children Ages 5-11 Say Their Child Will Get Vaccinated “Right Away” Once Eligible

Almost half (48%) of parents of vaccinable children ages 12-17 now report their child received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, a new report from KFF Vaccine Monitor shows.

Another 15% of these parents now say they want to "wait and see" how the vaccine works for others before their teenage boy gets it, while 4% say they would get vaccinated "only when needed" for school or other activities . Around one in five (21%) said that their growing child would “definitely not” be vaccinated.

The new report was used largely ahead of Pfizer's announcement of positive results from its clinical trials for children ages 5-11 and shows that a third (34%) of parents of children in this age group want their child to " immediately "vaccinated. authorized once. A similar proportion (32%) would like to “wait and see”, while a quarter (24%) say their children are “definitely not getting” the vaccine.

The report also highlights the toll the COVID-19 pandemic is taking on students taking face-to-face classes this fall. Almost a quarter (23%) of parents say they have a child who has had to be quarantined at home since the start of the school year due to possible COVID-19 exposure. This includes 26% of parents with children aged 5-11 and 20% of parents with children aged 12-17.

Most parents (58%) say that K-12 schools should require students and staff to wear masks regardless of their vaccination status, while more than a third (35%) say schools should not be required to wear masks. Mothers are much more likely than fathers to make mask compulsory for all students and employees (70% vs. 42%).

Of parents with one child attending classroom school, almost seven in ten (69%) state that their school requires all students and staff to wear masks, only one percent say that masks are only required for those who have not been vaccinated, and 28% say their school has no mask requirement. Most parents (73%) who say their child's school requires all students and staff to wear masks are in favor of this policy.

Few parents of children attending face-to-face schools say their school offers routine tests for unvaccinated children (6%), and one in five (20%) say they offer optional tests.

Two-thirds (66%) of parents with a child attending face-to-face school say that their school is doing about the right amount overall to limit the spread of COVID-19. Parents are slightly more likely to say that their school is not doing enough (21%) than that their school is doing too much (11%).

The KFF Vaccine Monitor Survey, designed and analyzed by pollsters at KFF, was conducted September 13-22 among a nationwide representative sample of 1,519 adults, including an over-sample of adults who are Black (306) or Hispanic (339) . . 414 parents were questioned with a margin of error of plus or minus 6 percentage points. The interviews were conducted in English and Spanish via landlines (171) and mobile phones (1,348). The sampling error margin for the entire sample is plus or minus 3 percentage points. Results based on subgroups may have a higher sampling error rate.

The KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor is an ongoing research project that tracks public attitudes and experiences with COVID-19 vaccinations. Using a combination of surveys and qualitative research, this project tracks the dynamics of public opinion during the development and diffusion of vaccines, including the trust and acceptance of vaccines, the need for information, trustworthy messengers and messages, and the public's experience of vaccination.