Vaccine Monitor: 6 in 10 Parents of Teens and One-Third of Parents of 5-11 Year-Olds Say Their Child is Vaccinated for COVID-19, Both Up Since November

1 in 4 parents say their student had to quarantine in January due to COVID-19 infection or exposure; A total of 4 out of 10 report some disruption in education

A growing number of parents are saying their eligible children have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and three in 10 parents with children under the age of 5 say they want their child vaccinated as soon as they become eligible for a new one KFF-COVID vaccination have -19 Vaccine Monitor report shows.

Of parents with children aged 12 to 17, 61% now say their child is vaccinated, up from 49% in November. A further 3% now say they plan to have their child vaccinated as soon as possible and 6% say they want to 'wait and see' how others do before doing so. Just under a quarter (23%) of parents with growing children say they will definitely not have their children vaccinated, while a small proportion (4%) say they will only do so if required for school.

Adolescents and teenagers in this age group are also recommended to have a booster dose six months after their first vaccination. One in five (21%) parents of vaccinated children in this age group say their child has already received a booster shot, while most others say they will definitely (41%) or likely (24%) get a booster shot.

Among parents of children aged 5 to 11 who were eligible for a COVID-19 vaccination in early November, a third (33%) say their child is now vaccinated, double the number in November (16 November). %). In addition, 13% now say they want their child vaccinated "immediately" and 19% say they want to "wait and see" before doing so. Others are more resistant, with a quarter (24%) saying they will 'no way' have their child vaccinated and 9% saying they would 'only do so if required for school'.

While children under the age of 5 are not yet eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, three in ten (31%) parents of children that age say they would have their child vaccinated “immediately” if it were possible. A similar proportion say they would “wait and see” how it works with other young children first, while a quarter (26%) say they would “not at all” and 12% say they would “only if necessary.” " to do.

Since schools reopened in January after the holidays, more than a quarter (27%) of parents said their child has had to quarantine at home because they tested positive for COVID-19 or were exposed to someone who tested positive tested, the new survey from Vaccine Monitor finds.

Additionally, one in five parents (20%) say their school closed face-to-face classes or switched to virtual learning at some point in January, and 14% say they are educating their child about the risk of contracting COVID-19. kept away from school. 19

Together, 41% of parents report at least one of these three types of disruption in their child's education. This includes half (49%) of Black and Hispanic parents, who are far more likely than White parents to say they kept a child away from school because of COVID-19 risks (28% and 7%, respectively).

Overall, half (50%) say they are concerned their child could become seriously ill with COVID-19, including a quarter (25%) who say they are "very concerned". Black and Hispanic parents are also much more concerned about this than White parents (70% and 39%, respectively).

Other insights are:

• About one in seven (14%) parents of unvaccinated children ages 5 to 17 say news about the Omicron variant makes them more likely to get vaccinated, while a large majority (79%) say it does makes no difference.
• 3 in 10 (30%) parents of children enrolled in school say their child's school has provided COVID-19 testing for students to take either in person or at home before they head out after winter break go back to school. Additionally, about 4 in 10 (39%) parents of children who are enrolled in school say they have attempted to purchase a home testing kit in the past month.

Designed and analyzed by KFF pollsters, the KFF Vaccine Monitor Survey was conducted January 11-23, 2022 among a nationally representative random number dial telephone sample of 1,536 adults, including 420 parents or guardians of children under the age of 18. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish by landline (165) and mobile (1,371). The sampling error rate is plus or minus 3 percentage points for the total sample and plus or minus 6 percentage points for parents of children under 18 years of age. For results based on subgroups, the sampling error rate may be higher.

The KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor is an ongoing research project that tracks public attitudes and experiences with COVID-19 vaccination. Using a combination of surveys and qualitative research, this project tracks the dynamics of public opinion as vaccines are developed and distributed, including trust and acceptance of vaccines, information needs, trusted messengers and messages, and public experiences with vaccination.