Wealthier Parents More Likely to Get COVID-19 Vaccines for Young Children

FRIDAY, Nov. 12, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- In a finding that suggests a family's income influences parents' views on COVID-19 vaccines for their younger children, a new survey shows the more money parents make, the likelier they are to get their children vaccinated.

The poll of more than 2,000 parents revealed that 47 percent of those with annual incomes of $100,000 or more were willing to get their children ages 5 to 11 years vaccinated compared with just 37 percent of those with incomes between $75,000 and $99,000 and only 34 percent of those with incomes less than $50,000, CNN reported.

"That trend line was absolutely clear from the lowest through the middle to the highest," said William Schaffner, M.D., a vaccine adviser to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who was not involved with the poll. He noted that people of higher income tend to have more education. "With more education, you generally have more acceptance of science, and I think you're more likely to participate in these sorts of public health and other preventive measures as recommended by the medical community," Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told CNN.

The survey was conducted the week of Oct. 25 by a team of epidemiologists based at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Lower-income parents may also have a more difficult time getting their children vaccinated, according to researcher John Brownstein. "You might need time off work to get an appointment, or time off potentially if your child has symptoms after the shot," Brownstein told CNN. "Unfortunately, the disparities that have been seen across the pandemic, especially around income, will persist even around vaccine access and younger kids."

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