What is it that many parents stop giving their children the COVID vaccine?

Polling from Kaiser Family Foundation In October, about one-third of American parents showed that their children were eager to get the COVID vaccine. Another one-third says they will never vaccinate children. Pediatricians and public health professionals are most interested in the last third. It’s a parent who wants to wait for how the vaccine works for their children. But in the meantime, pandemics continue to infect people of all ages. What can convince parents who are not firmly in the camp for or against vaccination to vaccinate their children?

on Friday Next episode: undecided, I Aaron Carroll, A pediatrician and pediatrician professor at Indiana University School of Medicine, tells nervous parents how to convince nervous parents that taking shots is the best thing for their child, and that’s it. right How to think about vaccines with children. I edited and summarized the conversation for clarity.

Lizzie O’Leary: What is the most accurate way to explain what you are facing in terms of child and parent attitudes regarding the COVID vaccine?

Aaron Carroll: I think people know that everyone who is hesitant about vaccination is either terribly misguided or will never just stick to it. However, people often hesitate to vaccinate their children. Worried.. People are far more risk-averse to children than they are.The risks that people are willing to accept even in their daily lives and what they are willing to do is not the same as they are willing to tolerate for their children.

What questions do you have from your parents?

That’s surprising because most of the questions I see are those who are otherwise fully vaccinated. There are definitely many people who have been vaccinated, but now they are children, “Well, my child is prepubertal. I’m worried about her childbirth.” Or “How many children have myocarditis?” I don’t know. “Or” Many people were infected with COVID. It’s very likely that my child already had COVID and didn’t know. Why did I vaccinate them? Should I do it? Isn’t it dangerous? Would it be worse if they were already infected with COVID? “

what do you say?

For those who are worried about childbirth, it is unfortunately a myth. Alternatively, when listening to mRNA, some people are worried that somehow the mRNA will get into the DNA and the gene will change. In that case, it is necessary to explain that there is no mechanism in the body to convert mRNA into DNA. If you are worried about myocarditis, you have to talk about how rare it is and that the risk of myocarditis due to COVID is much greater than the risk of myocarditis due to vaccines. Given the infectivity of Delta and other variants, ultimately everyone will be vaccinated or infected with COVID. You are much better off getting the vaccine.

I’m listening to you, and I’ve also seen some of the webins you do: Ask Aaron.. I feel like I’m autopiloting “theme variations”. You receive this question, you say this answer, you receive this question, you say this. Does it feel like a vending machine that says “I hear it, the answer is here”?

There are so many questions that we will eventually get there. The question will eventually be repeated for me and all those who see the webinar, but it’s new for the person asking the question. And in fact, people’s concerns are very personal and many do not convert until they are specifically answered directly. If they hear a message that doesn’t resonate with them, it feels like you’re trying to avoid the problem, they think you’re trying to hide something.

Unfortunately, I think this is a very retail job. Must be done individually. One of the things that makes me happy about how we actually distribute vaccines to children is that we are now. finally Use the medical system. For COVID, we do not distribute vaccines in the traditional way. It’s in the pharmacy. It’s in the big center. What we do with COVID is ultimately to distribute these to the actual pediatrician’s clinic. It’s a way to reach people who are hesitant about vaccines.

Why do you think there is this discontinuity that may exist between what vaccinated parents are willing to do for themselves and what they are willing to do for their children?

One is to feel responsible for the children, who have taken risks on their own for the rest of their lives and may find it more difficult than they are. You probably made a pretty dangerous decision in your twenties, both regarding sexual activity and perhaps substance. You are used to understanding the trade-offs. However, if you have children, the restrictions are much more stringent. And we feel that we can be criticized. The risks appear to be much greater and the benefits can be inferior in comparison.

Of course, weighing the benefits and risks of vaccines is nothing new. Therefore, the family seeks advice from a pediatrician. For years, doctors have tried to increase vaccination coverage and fight hesitation. Did this same struggle occur with previous vaccines?

When the varicella vaccine was approved in the 90’s, many parents asked, “Why do children need to be vaccinated against chickenpox? It’s not a big, small illness. Everyone understands it. And for many, that’s true.But when adult With chickenpox, it’s terribly bad. In addition, chickenpox infects several babies each year. It wasn’t a big number, but it was a real number.

And just a few years after we actually started vaccination of our children, in the early 2000s, no babies died of chickenpox. Given that no baby is immunized against chickenpox, this is a big win. You can’t get it until you’re one year old. But by vaccination of our children, we have protected everyone. And today, we have 86% of eligible children vaccinated and chickenpox is almost gone.

You are Wrote about your experience As a young pediatrician, I vaccinated my children with the varicella vaccine against chickenpox. How did you break through to your skeptical parents?

I think we will build trust with time and effort. Let’s talk about the risks and benefits. In fact, this is part of what we do at all. When my parents say, “I want antibiotics for my child’s ear infection,” I say these are the benefits of it and these are the risks.
It’s a negotiation. It makes people feel listening, makes sure you understand what they are experiencing, and that it’s not unreasonable and you’re trying to find a solution that works. Make sure.

In your writing about chickenpox, you’ve noticed that you said in 2008 that only about 34 percent of eligible adolescents were fully immunized. And by 2018, about 90 percent of children have been vaccinated. That sounds great, and made me think: are we talking about immunizing children against COVID over a long time frame of 10 years? Will it take 10 years?

Unless we have an obligation, yeah, that’s because I think, and to be honest with you, we can’t get there without an obligation. Let’s be clear. I can’t win 90 percent as a pediatrician. I own it. That won’t happen. These are necessary for the school system to be as promising as it demands. As most people do, the default must be “vaccinated”.

Many pediatricians use this, called the presumptive approach, when talking about large-scale vaccination. Can you tell me how it works in a vaccine setting?

They have the idea of ​​”vaccination”. It’s about norms.No need to opt in, no need to opt in out.. You can do it in conversation. If you normalize getting vaccinated, far more people will default than you think.

Last week about Big bird Sesame street “Getting” the vaccine.. In your experience, do these types of campaigns work to increase vaccination?

I think everything works a little. It makes sense to try to find all the levers we can pull. Will Big Bird be vaccinated for everyone? No, there is no chance. Some people may be shaken by the big bird. But really, the way to reach people is to get a good message from a trusted source. The problem is that one person’s trusted source is another person’s untrusted source.

What makes you optimistic?

One cannot be vaccinated. So the numbers really only go up. Over time, as more and more people consider this a standard, they will be converted. But over time, the pandemic burns out. They do. The 1917, 1918, and 1919 influenza pandemics have burned out. Other influenza pandemics have burned out. That will happen. It’s how much damage we take along the way. And we already have vaccines, and these vaccines are incredible. I think we will eventually reach a better place. I know that the faster you do, the better you can do.

Future tense
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