Back to School: Parents, the Pandemic, and the COVID Vaccine

Most parents of COVID-19 vaccine-eligible children (aged 12 to 17 years) do not want schools to require vaccination as a condition of returning to in-person classroom participation, according to results of the most recent Kaiser Family Foundation COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor report. Most parents do, however, support requiring masks for unvaccinated students and staff.

Parents' top concerns around vaccination for youth aged 12 to 17 years center on fear of long-term and serious side effects including potential impact on fertility. Among concerns specific to Black and Hispanic parents are being able to get paid time off from work to take a child for vaccination and being able to get the vaccine from a trusted place. Other issues of access and cost persist as well among minorities.

In the slides that follow we highlight findings on parental attitudes and perceptions that may help clinicians in primary care continue to dispel fears and myths and to offer reassurance.

(Note: COVID-19 is abbreviated as C19 throughout the slide show.)

Previous Kaiser Family Foundation Vaccine Monitor research reports:

COVID-19 Vaccination: It's Been 6 Months So Who's Vaccinated and Who's Not?

July 14th 2021

COVID-19 Vaccine Tipping Points: KFF Data on States at Risk

May 5th 2021

Trust in the COVID-19 Vaccine is Fluid: KFF Vaccine Monitor Project Explains

December 17th 2020