Youngest children are least willing to have COVID-19 jab

In a large school-based survey of students from 9-18-years-old (Years 5 to 13), researchers from the University of Oxford, UCL and the University of Cambridge have discovered that the younger you are, the less likely you are to want a COVID-19 vaccination. Writing in  EClinicalMedicine , the authors present the results of the OxWell School Survey 2021, finding that 36% of 9-year-olds are willing to have a COVID-19 vaccination, compared to 51% of 13-year-olds, and 78% of 17-year-olds. Those less willing to have a vaccination also often come from the most socioeconomically deprived backgrounds, feel less belonging to their school community and think they have probably had COVID-19 already. Associate Professor Mina Fazel, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, said, 'Our survey findings show that children become more willing to have the COVID-19 vaccine as they get older. Younger children more often defer to their parents, or primary caregivers, for decisions about healthcare and vaccination, but our data shows how important it is for good quality, accessible information to be provided to better enable our younger populations to understand more about the COVID-19 vaccine and its effects.' On the survey question of vaccine hesitancy, the study included over 27,000 students from 180 schools across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, and Merseyside. This is the only large-scale study to ask children and adolescents about their willingness to be vaccinated against COVID-19.