Financial incentives, public-health messages and other tactics used by state and local governments and employers to encourage people to get the Covid-19 vaccine didnt have a noticeable impact on vaccination rates among those who already were hesitant about getting the shot, new research shows.
Whats more, the strategies sometimes had the opposite effect of their intended design on certain groups of people, illustrating how difficult it has been to lift U.S. vaccination rates as the pandemic drags on, according to a recent study published in the National Bureau of Economic Research.
NEW HANOVER COUNTY (WWAY) When it comes to vaccines for children, Pfizer is one step down, with several more to go.
According to Assistant New Hanover County Health Director Carla Turner, kids ages 5 through 11 could get a vaccine as soon as next week.
At one-third the regular adult dose, Turner says the vaccine has proven extremely effective on kids.
They were shown in studies to be 90.7 percent effective at preventing illness, she said, which is phenomenal.
Vaccines for children 5 through 11 cleared one hurdle Tuesday, when and FDA panel recommended it for emergency authorization use.
And though the FDA, CDC panel, CDC director, and North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services still need to approve it, the vaccine is on many parents minds.
Some, like Rita Perini, are strongly opposed.
Theyre more resilient to stuff than adults are, she said. And they dont know enough about it. I do not want my grandchildren vaccinated, I do not want my grown children vaccinated.
Others, like Amber Stepnoski are excited to complete the set, getting the shot for every member of their family.
I say better safe than sorry, Stepnoski explained. Im actually just excited. Im excited to hear that we did the five. And hopefully, maybe at the beginning of the new year well have the five and under.
Mother, Sidney Phoenix worried the vaccine wasnt studied enough, an admitted anxiety over the shots side effects.
That makes me pretty nervous. Im not going to lie. Theres been a lot of side effects and stuff with the vaccine for adults, I can only imagine what that would put children through, said Phoenix.
Though its a widely held concern in the Cape Fear, Turner said according to the FDA, the vaccine studies were in depth. By making this decision, their conclusion was the reward outweighed the risk.
This vaccine for this age group did go under any less rigorous testing than any of these other vaccines, said Turner. They all have gone through the same rigorous testing that any vaccine or new drug has to go through before its approved.
As the deadline for the Biden administrations COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal contractors looms, the chief executive officer of Raytheon Technologies said the company could potentially lose several thousand people who dont plan to get vaccinated.
Greg Hayes said in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday that 3 percent of the Waltham-based defense contractors 125,000-person workforce will likely refuse to get the vaccine before the Dec. 8 deadline. Thats roughly 3,500 people who will be at risk of losing their jobs.
Now this is a tough thing, but we are preparing for it. Were out hiring today, Hayes said. Frankly, its the right thing to do. We need to have people vaccinated to get this pandemic under control.
Hayes said more than 80 percent of the companys workforce is fully vaccinated.
Raytheon told employees on Sept. 15 that they would need to be fully vaccinated by Jan. 1, but a week later, the Biden administration announced the deadline for federal contractors would be Dec. 8.
Hayes said about 7,500 as-yet-unvaccinated employees have indicated that they would be vaccinated by the deadline, and another 3,500 have asked for a religious or medical exemption. (The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has not yet released more information on the broader COVID-19 vaccine mandate that would apply to all private employers with more than 100 employees).
Raytheon declined to provide vaccination status data for its 14,700 employees based in Massachusetts.
The issue facing Raytheon is playing out across the state, as companies that do business with the federal government have less than two months to ensure their workforces are fully vaccinated.
At Boston-based General Electric, the mandate has led to a union fight, with workers claiming GE didnt give them enough time to bargain over how the policy will play out.
Justin Richards, a business agent for IUE-CWA Local 201, said he thinks more than half of the unions 1,200 members in Lynn are unvaccinated. They still have questions over what will happen if they dont meet the deadline, since being fired, laid off, or furloughed would have different impacts on benefits such as health care or severance packages, he said.
A GE spokesperson said in an e-mail that the company is complying with the executive order on vaccine mandates, which is not subject to bargaining. We have and will continue to have open discussions with union leadership regarding our COVID protocols, including the recent vaccine mandate, as we have throughout the pandemic.
Anissa Gardizy can be reached at anissa.gardizy@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @anissagardizy8.
Planning underway in Tarrant County to administer COVID-19 vaccine once it's approved for kids
A Wednesday morning conference call gave insight into how Tarrant County school districts are preparing to administer COVID-19 Pfizer vaccinations for children 5-11 years old.
FORT WORTH, Texas - A Wednesday morning conference call gave insight into how Tarrant County school districts are preparing to administer COVID-19 Pfizer vaccinations for children 5-11 years old.
"We probably had over 40 people on the call, I think just about all, if not every, district in Tarrant County," Tarrant County Judge Glenn Whitley said.
There was even a desired timeline discussed.
"I think everybody on the call said, ideally, they would love to have the first shot given before Thanksgiving, which would allow then the second shot to be given before the district closed down for Christmas break," Whitley said. "That way, when the kids went off for the Christmas break, it would be much safer and they could go and not be as concerned about trying to distance themselves."
RELATED: FDA panel endorses Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine for children 5-11
With FDA approval expected in a matter of days, Judge Whitley said the county is assisting districts that have expressed the desire to set up clinics.
"Itll be a partnership with the city of Fort Worth, certainly guided by advice from the county health department," Fort Worth ISD Superintendent Dr. Kent Scribner said.
Scribner said Fort Worth ISD will focus on convenience for families and staff.
"We are collaborating right now the county health department and the city of Fort Worth, and we look to have drive-thru clinics here in our district for any parent who would like their child to be vaccinated," he explained.
Arlington ISD said details are in progress. A statement from the district Wednesday said: "The Arlington ISD is discussing the possibility of hosting a vaccine clinic for students ages 5-11, district families and staff members in the near future."
The district held a similar vaccination clinic at its athletics center when Pfizer shots were approved for students 12 and older.
"I did not hear a single school district or single individual say they werent willing to participate," Whitley added. "They were all saying let us go back and look at our calendars and find if we have a location that would feel like is best."
Whitley said there will likely be community partners to assist giving shots, in addition to pharmacies and pediatrician offices. He also wants families to have flexibility in getting the vaccine in districts other than their own.
"If, by chance, a parent and a child, who might be in the Mansfield ISD, and a more convenient day was in Arlington ISD, just publicizing these things and allowing folks to go when they could go and where they can go," he said.
Utahns with children under 18 are split over vaccinating them against COVID-19, according to a new Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll as federal approval nears for 5- to 11-year-olds to get the shots as soon as early November.
An advisory panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday recommended a pediatric dose of the Pfizer vaccine for children as young as 5. There are several more steps in the approval process, including by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, set to meet next week on the issue.
Vaccines are already available across the United States to anyone 12 and older, including the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson brands for those over 18 years old. The FDA panel was told that COVID-19 is one of the top 10 causes of death among children 5-11, with nearly 100 dying nationwide from the virus.
In Utah, COVID-19 has claimed the lives of two young people under 18 years old. In March, months before the vaccination age limit was lowered from 16, a Salt Lake County boy between 1 and 14 years old died from the virus and in September, the death of an unvaccinated girl believed to be 15 to 17 years old was reported.
Less than 48% of Utahns 12 to 15 years old are fully vaccinated against the deadly virus, meaning its been two weeks or more since their final dose, while 55% of all Utahns, including more that 86% of those 65 and older who are considered the most vulnerable to COVID-19, can say the same.
The results of the new poll for the Deseret News and the University of Utahs Hinckley Institute of Politics suggests why.
Just over half the Utahns polled, 53%, said they did not have children under 18 when asked to describe their reactions to children and teenagers getting a COVID-19 vaccine as the parent or guardian of a child in that age group.
The rest were divided in their support of vaccinating children and teens, with 10% saying their children were already eligible for the shots and had gotten them, and another 12% planning to get their children vaccinated as soon as they became eligible.
But another 10% said they wanted to wait and see how the vaccine works before theyd get their children the shots, while 8% had determined their children would not receive a COVID-19 vaccine and 6% had not yet decided what to do.
Among the Utah parents whod made up their minds not to vaccinate their children against COVID-19, most said their main reason was that they didnt believe the vaccine was necessary, 46%. Another 16% said they were worried about side effects, 11% dont trust vaccines, 3% objected for religious reasons and 24% had other reasons.
The poll was conducted Oct 14-21 by Dan Jones & Associates of 746 registered Utah voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.54 percentage points for the full sample. For the question asked only of parents who said they were not getting their children vaccinated, the margin of error is plus or minus 12.25 percentage points.
Dr. Neal Davis, medical director of pediatric community-based care for Intermountain Healthcare, said he wasnt surprised by the results.
I think that kind of squares with my experience in clinic, in talking with parents, Davis said. I have a lot of families in my clinic that are very anxious to be able to get their kids vaccinated. So yes. Then there are some who are kind of that wait-and-see group, and then some who dont want to. Then we have a good conversation.
The Murray-based pediatrician said the two concerns parents most often bring up about the COVID-19 vaccine is whether it is needed since cases tend to be milder in children and if what theyve heard about possible side effects is true.
While children typically arent hit as hard as adults by the virus, he said he tries to make it clear they also can become seriously ill.
COVID doesnt impact children and teenagers as much as it impacts adults, especially adults at risk. And its also true that children can be impacted significantly. Its very important to protect them when we can. Those are not mutually exclusive statements, Davis said.
Parents are told the vaccine is needed, he said, because we have had many children hospitalized in our state with COVID, and some suffer really significant after effects, including multisymptom inflammatory syndrome or MIS-C, as well as lingering symptoms known as long COVID.
The doctor said he focuses on building trust with parents, by answering their questions about the vaccine.
I think its really important to listen to people and help them feel respected, Davis said. Then I talk about their concerns and make sure I understand them. I present the data that Im aware of and then I let them know that I respect their view. We will work together and always do what they want to do for their child.
Many come around, he said, although it can take time. If the vaccine is approved for children, Davis said his hope is that all of them can be protected by the shots, but he also wants every parent to feel respected as they care for their child.
Jason Perry, director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics, said parents appear to be taking an extra measure of caution as they consider the COVID-19 vaccine for their children, compared to earlier polls that asked adults about taking the vaccine themselves.
Those polls found about two-thirds of Utah adults said theyd gotten the shots or wanted to right away, compared to about half of the parents in the new poll who had or intended to vaccinate their children or teenagers. Perry said the pandemic has been about weighing risks for Utahns, and those change when it comes to children.
When it comes to making decisions for others, particularly their children, they have been more cautious, he said Although physicians and medical experts have been clear that there is little risk of harm for children getting the vaccine, the risk analysis has shifted for parents and more have decided to wait.
Dr. Andrew Pavia, chief of the division of pediatric infectious diseases at University of Utah Health and director of hospital epidemiology at Intermountain Primary Childrens Hospital in Salt Lake City, said its understandable that people worry more about vaccinating their children than themselves.
Thats what we do as parents, is we worry a lot about our kids, Pavia said.
In a state with mandatory masking in schools and a much higher vaccination rate than Utah, watching and waiting before vaccinating children may be a reasonable strategy, he said. Unfortunately, we dont live there. We have a lot of COVID spreading in our schools affecting kids in this age group.
That means parents should balance whats not known yet about the vaccine, Pavia said, after studies that included some 3,200 children. None showed any serious side effects, including myocarditis. an inflammation of the heart muscle that affected some adolescent and young adult males.
We dont know everything there is to know about this vaccine yet. We know enough to know that its safe and effective. We are going to learn more, Pavia said, such as whether children will eventually need booster shots that are now being given to many adults.
With approximately 365,000 Utah children between the ages of 5-11, they would be one of the largest newly eligible groups since vaccinations against the COVID-19 virus began last December, according to the Utah Department of Health.
The state health department said Tuesday that 109,000 pediatric doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been pre-ordered from the federal government and should begin shipping at the end of this week. But the department said the doses cannot be administered until federal regulators give final approval, likely next week.
The pediatric doses would be able to be administered by the same providers who offer adult COVID-19 shots, including local health departments, pharmacies and doctors offices. Vaccine providers can be found on the states coronavirus website, coronavirus.utah.gov/vaccine-distribution.
The FDA advisory panel recommendation is for giving children 5 to 11 one-third of the dose offered to those 12 and older in two shots, three weeks apart. About 28 million children around the country would be eligible for the shots under the recommendation.
It next goes to the agencys acting director, Dr. Janet Woodcock, then her decision is reviewed by a CDC advisory panel that is scheduled to meet Nov. 2 and 3, and finally, the CDCs director, Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky. Walensky will issue the final guidance for vaccinating children.
Auburn University will offer COVID-19 vaccine clinics at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum on Nov. 1, 2, 22 and 23 to increase access for those interested in receiving an initial dose, second dose or booster of the vaccine. Officials plan to have all three types of the vaccine available (Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson and Johnson), with available supply based on the level of demand for any given vaccine. While the clinics are offered, booster doses will be available only on the Nov. 1, 2, 22 and 23 dates to ensure the university meets demand for first doses of the COVID-19 vaccines.
Schedule a COVID-19 vaccine appointment
CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) With the approval of the COVID-19 vaccine for the age group of 5 to 11 still pending, are schools in West Virginia prepared for the rollout?
In Kanawha County, schools are working with the Kanawha Charleston Health Department on just how many vaccines the health department should prepare for.
Weve already given them preliminary enrollment numbers for each elementary school as well as each middle school, the 11-year-olds that would be eligible in the middle schools as well. Weve given them the numbers so that they can prepare to order the appropriate dose, said Alicia Warden, the head nurse for KCS.
There are approximately 10,800 kids aged 5 to 11 enrolled in Kanawha County Schools. Warden says they havent planned clinics for the age group yet, but when they do it will be similar to their flu clinics.
With flu shot clinics we would have it scheduled over several weeks so we would typically do maybe two schools in a day, they would have a clinic in the morning then they would change locations to the second and the school nurses just collaborate with their teammates and jump in where needed, said Warden.
Its a similar situation at Putnam County Schools. They told 13 News in a statement, Much like we did with the pending approval of vaccines for children 12 years of age and older, Putnam County Schools plans to put out a parent survey. to give us an idea of how many parents/families are interested. This will also help PCS plan clinics pending FDA approval.
We did talk with other school districts across the state, and many are still waiting on guidance from the county and state levels. School leaders like Warden say collaboration is key.
Were fortunate to have this collaborative relationship with our health department to try to reach the community and help get the word out there and these vaccines out to eligible students who want it, Warden said.
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Nick Ehli| Kaiser Health News
VIRGINIA CITY Emilie Saylers roots run deep in southwestern Montana. She serves on a nearby town council and the board of the local Little League. She went to college in a neighboring county and regularly volunteers in the schools of her three kids.
Just a few months into her new job as public health director for Madison County, she had hoped that those local connections might make a difference, that the fewer than 10,000 residents spread out across this agricultural region would see her familiar face and support her efforts to curtail the COVID-19 pandemic raging here.
That largely hasnt happened. School boards have rebuffed even minor measures to prevent outbreaks, vaccination rates languish and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) categorizes infection levels in the rural county as high. Parents, Sayler said, are sending sick kids to school.
On top of that, a resident phoned her office and told a member of her staff, I wish that you would get COVID-19 and die.
People have used the term free-for-all, and I really hate to admit that thats what it kind of feels like, Sayler said.
Nationally, KHN and The Associated Press have documented that more than 300 public health leaders, weary of abuse and of their expertise being questioned, have resigned or retired as the country struggles to recover from the worst pandemic in a century. They have been replaced by people like Sayler, often inexperienced yet tasked with repairing the trust of a polarized and fatigued public.
Constant negativity:Blaine County health officer latest to resign over pushback
At least26 stateshave passed laws or regulations limiting the powers of public health officers this year, meaning these replacements have fewer tools and less authority than their predecessors to enforce their orders and recommendations.
Montana passed laws considered some of the most restrictive. This year, the state Legislaturecurbed the powers of health officers to, among other things, quarantine infected citizens or isolate those in close contactwith them. Lawmakers also prevented public and private employers from requiring workers to be vaccinated and gave local elected officials the ability to overturn public health orders.
Now Montana is at or near the bottom of many national statistics charting the COVID-19 surge rates of new cases, hospitalizations and deaths that is happening in counties big and small.
Lori Christenson is the new health officer for Gallatin County, Madison Countys neighbor to the east and home of the city of Bozeman and Montana State University. In June, she replaced Matt Kelley, who before resigning had become a political punching bag as the county mandated masks in public places and restricted business hours and the size of crowds. Protesters on social media demanded his ouster; a few picketed outside his home. Christenson had served in the health department for seven years before her promotion and worked closely with Kelley.
In Great Falls: GFPS sees decline in COVID-19 cases by 45% since peak in Sept.
While her office still hears daily from frustrated citizens on both sides, she said the vitriol is not quite as malicious as in the past. Thats in large part, she believes, because the new laws that gutted her departments power shifted criticism to other entities like local school boards that still have the authority to mandate measures such as wearing masks.
Sometimes it can be pretty frustrating not having the ability to make some immediate changes that previously helped to slow transmission, Christenson said. We just dont have the tools at our disposal in the same way that we did before.
That reality, she said, has been morally challenging.
I have a duty to protect the community. You want to do what is right, but you also want to do what is lawful. In this situation, it didnt mesh.
Joe Russell does not envy health officers new to their positions. He retired as head of the Flathead City-County Health Department in 2017 but returned in December after the interim director resigned over what she called a toxic environment inflamed by the ideological biases of local politicians.
Think about going into a brand-new profession, in a leadership role that youve never held, in a crisis like COVID-19, Russell said. It would be miserable.
He said his experience 30 years in the Flathead health department, including 20 as its leader has eased navigating through the pandemic in one of the states most populous and conservative counties, although the rate of cases there remains high and its vaccination rate low.
His tenure, he said, has given him the credibility to confront officials who question the seriousness of COVID-19 or the safety and effectiveness of vaccines.
When someone spouts this nonsense, who better to stand up and give them the science-based evidence and tell them that they are full of crap? Russell said. I love it when that happens at a public meeting.
Although Montana laws essentially prevent public health officials from following many CDC guidelines, Christenson said they still have useful tools available to combat the virus: testing, contact tracing, vaccination, communicating with the public.
That is what I focus on, she said. That is what we can do.
Christenson believes she has the communitys support. She noted that while a few people protested outside of Kelleys home, crowds countered that criticism by lining Bozemans Main Street, offering cheers of support on his drive home.
Not to say that every day is rosy, she said. That would be nave. But you can feel the staff here continue to try to move forward, and that to me is a success.
Related: Montana worst in US for most COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents
In Madison County, Sayler said she is taking an olive branch approach to turning things around, advancing recommendations rather than orders, as her staff works to nudge vaccination rates up from the current 48%. Shes doubtful that will quickly reduce COVID.
In September, the county saw approximately 200 new cases roughly 20% of all its infections since the pandemic began and had more residents hospitalized with the virus than ever before.
While the pandemic has filled Saylers first months on the job, she said she looks forward to focusing on other ways the health department can restore the publics faith and help Madison County, such as offering car seats for babies or nutrition advice for expectant mothers.
There is a lot of rebuilding to do here because this whole office has been consumed by COVID-19 for so long, she said. I can still see long-term goals for us and what we can do for this community. Thats not just a goal. Thats a need.
Her office has on occasion persuaded those sick with COVID-19, even those who insisted the virus is not serious, to seek medical help.
Tell your story, Sayler said she advises those COVID-19 survivors. Make sure everybody knows how sick you were.
But then there are more difficult encounters, such as when a mother cursed her out over the phone about the recommendation that her child be quarantined. A week later, she saw the woman at her daughters volleyball game.
She was sitting there and looked directly at me and then looked away, Sayler said. That made me feel better. You truly dont feel that way. You were just expressing frustration in that moment.
That experience left her with cautious optimism about the difficult task she has ahead with the pandemic set to enter its second winter.
It is reassuring that there is potential here. We can still work with these people, she said. We just really dont want to be a punching bag, either.
KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a nonprofit news service covering health issues. It is an editorially independent program of KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation) that is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
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The North Dakota Department of Health reported a drop in active cases on a low testing day Monday. Statewide case numbers often fall on Mondays following low weekend testing, but North Dakota has seen a consistent decline in virus positives over the last two weeks following a recent high of over 4,500 active cases on Oct. 6.
North Dakota's delta death toll, however, has continued to mount as statewide virus levels have declined. Virus deaths tend to lag behind case surges, and North Dakota reported four new virus deaths since the end of last week, adding to what has already been the state's deadliest month of the pandemic in 2021.
The health department reports that 92 people have died with COVID-19 in the month of October, a larger count than in August and September combined. Hospital beds remain scarce in the state as health care centers have struggled to balance staffing shortages, rising delta cases and noncoronavirus admissions.
The following are COVID-19 case rates, deaths and hospitalizations tracked by the North Dakota Department of Health as of Monday, Oct. 25. Because all data are preliminary, some numbers and totals may change from one day to the next.
Cass County, which encompasses Fargo, had the most known active cases on Monday, with 677 cases. Burleigh County, which includes Bismarck, had 409 active cases, and Ward County, which includes Minot, had 292.
As of Monday, children under 12, an age group that is not yet eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, accounted for 555 of the state's active cases. More than a quarter of North Dakota's active cases are in residents under 20 years old.
The state's 14-day rolling average positivity rate is 7.0%, down from over 8% earlier this month.
At 173 people, virus hospitalizations remain high in North Dakota, though they have fallen from recent highs in the 200s earlier this month. There were just 17 available staffed ICU beds statewide in the most recent hospital reports to a health department database, with nine ICU beds and nine inpatient beds available between Fargo's three hospitals. There were no available ICU beds or inpatient beds in Bismarck's two hospitals, according to the most recent reporting.
FIRST DOSE ADMINISTERED*: 376,595 (56.5% of population ages 12 and up)
FULL VACCINE COVERAGE*: 351,756 (52.8% of population ages 12 and up)
*These figures come from the state's vaccine dashboard, though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which includes vaccinations performed at federal sites, reports slightly higher vaccination rates.
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Readers can reach reporter Adam Willis, a Report for America corps member, at awillis@forumcomm.com.
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) Children as young as 3 will start receiving COVID-19 vaccines in China, where 76% of the population has been fully vaccinated and authorities are maintaining a zero-tolerance policy toward outbreaks.
China becomes one of the very few countries in the world to start vaccinating children that young against the virus. Cuba, for one, has begun a vaccine drive for children as young as 2. The U.S. and many European countries allow COVID-19 shots down to age 12, though the U.S. is moving quickly toward opening vaccinations to 5- to 11-year-olds.
Local city and provincial level governments in at least five Chinese provinces issued notices in recent days announcing that children ages 3 to 11 will be required to get their vaccinations.
The expansion of the vaccination campaign comes as parts of China take new clampdown measures to try to stamp out small outbreaks. Gansu, a northwestern province heavily dependent on tourism, closed all tourist sites Monday after finding new COVID-19 cases. Residents in parts of Inner Mongolia have been ordered to stay indoors because of an outbreak there.
The National Health Commission reported that 35 new cases of local transmission had been detected over the past 24 hours, four of them in Gansu. An additional 19 cases were found in the Inner Mongolia region, with others scattered around the country.
China has employed lockdowns, quarantines and compulsory testing for the virus throughout the pandemic and has largely stamped out cases of local infection while fully vaccinating 1.07 billion people out of a population of 1.4 billion.
In particular, the government is concerned about the spread of the more contagious delta variant by travelers and about having a largely vaccinated public ahead of the Beijing Olympics in February. Overseas spectators already have been banned from the Winter Games, and participants will have to stay in a bubble separating them from people outside.
Chinas most widely used vaccines, from Sinopharm and Sinovac, have shown efficacy in preventing severe disease and transmission of the virus, based on public data. But the protection they offer against the delta variant has not been answered definitively, although officials say they remain protective.
Hubei, Fujian and Hainan provinces all issued provincial level notices alerting new vaccination requirements, while individual cities in Zhejiang province and Hunan province have also issued similar announcements.
China in June had approved two vaccines Sinopharms from the Beijing Institute of Biological Products and Sinovac for children ages 3 to 17, but it has only been vaccinating those 12 and older. In August, regulators approved another, Sinopharms from the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products.
After the vaccines received domestic approval for children in China, foreign governments began giving the shots to children in their own countries. Cambodia uses both Sinovac and Sinopharms shots in children 6 to 11. Regulators in Chile approved Sinovac for children as young as 6. In Argentina, regulators approved the Sinopharm vaccine for children as young as age 3.
Many developing countries left out of the race to get shots from Western pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer and Moderna bought Chinese vaccines. China has shipped more than 1.2 billion doses as of September, according to its Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Even with widespread domestic and global use, not every parent is reassured about the vaccine, citing less publicly available data on the shots.
Wang Lu, who lives in the southern city of Fuzhou in Fujian province, said she isnt particularly rushing to get her 3-year-old son vaccinated. Im just not very clear on the vaccines safety profile, so I dont really want to get him vaccinated, at the very least, I dont want to be the first, Wang said.
Sinovac started an efficacy trial with 14,000 child participants across multiple countries in September. Its approval in China was based on smaller phase 1 and phase 2 trials. Sinopharms Beijing shot was also approved based on smaller phase 1 and phase 2 trials. These were published later in peer-reviewed journals.
Other parents said they werent concerned, given that many other people had already gotten the shot.
Wu Cong, a mom of a 7-year old, said her daughters school in Shanghai hadnt yet notified them of any vaccinations.
I think this isnt too different from the flu vaccine, theres already been so many people vaccinated, so I dont have too many worries, said Wu.
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Associated Press researcher Chen Si in Shanghai contributed to this report.
