News Update

Covid vaccination rates in children 5 to 11 lagging badly in California

The rate of children between ages 5 to 11 receiving covid vaccinations in California and across the nation is lagging badly, and doctors are concerned, the Associated Press reported Thursday.

Only 17% of eligible children in the state were fully vaccinated as of Tuesday, the news service reported. In contrast, Vermont’s rate for the same age group was 48 %. Experts are blaming disinformation as a leading cause of the lag.

“Vaccinations among the elementary school set surged after the shots were introduced in the fall, but the numbers have crept up slowly since then, and omicron’s explosive spread appears to have had little effect,” the report said.

Dr. Robert Murphy, executive director for the Institute for Global Health at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, called the rates “very disturbing.” Parents, Murphy said, “are taking an enormous risk and continuing to fuel the pandemic.”

 


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