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I Spoke to 23 Parents Who Are Vaccinating Their Teens Against Covid-19
Now that kids as young as 12 can get a vaccine, here’s a look at how parents across the country are responding
When the FDA authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for adolescents aged 12–15, millions of parents across the country breathed a sigh of relief. At last, their teens could have the opportunity to live somewhat normal lives with the protection a vaccine offered them.
“For some teens, the vaccine may be their sort of beacon of hope that they can go back to doing the things they want to do without worry, without fear,” Robin Gurwitch, PhD, a psychologist and professor at Duke University Medical Center, told me. She said some teens may look forward to getting the vaccine so they can feel safe going to school. Others wanted to feel safer being around friends and participating in activities. Others wanted to visit family members they worried about accidentally infecting before they were vaccinated. For many, it was all of the above.
About a third of parents appear to feel the same way, according to polling from the Kaiser Family Foundation that found three in 10 parents planned to get their children vaccinated right away. I asked some of those parents in my social networks why they wanted…
