However strongly adults feel about getting vaccinated against the coronavirus, their feelings regarding their children are even stronger. Our team of analysts looked at the latest information on vaccine hesitancy to find the main reasons why parents don’t want to vaccinate their children.
Key findings:
- 63% of people say side effect fears will keep them from vaccinating their children
- 30% of people don’t trust the coronavirus vaccine
- 27% of people don’t believe children need to be vaccinated
- 4% of people don’t believe in vaccinating their children
The main reasons why adults don’t want to vaccinate their children vary from state to state. In Pennsylvania, 79% of people say concerns over side effects have kept them from vaccinating their children. In Montana, 59% of respondents aren’t sure if their child needs the vaccine. And in Oregon, 15% of people say they don’t vaccinate their children.
The percentages change in every state but our team of analysts found there are six main reasons why people aren’t vaccinating their children against the coronavirus:
- They’re concerned about side effects
- They’re not sure children need the vaccine
- They’re waiting to see if the vaccine is safe
- They don’t trust the coronavirus vaccine
- They don’t trust government officials
- They don’t vaccinate their children
Respondents were allowed to choose multiple reasons, so the percentages in the table below won’t add up to 100%.
| State | % concerned about side effects | % not sure if children need it | % waiting to see if the vaccine is safe | % who don’t trust the vaccine | % who don’t vaccinate their children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 68% | 24% | 35% | 22% | 3% |
| Alaska | 64% | 41% | 22% | 39% | 9% |
| Arizona | 51% | 26% | 42% | 25% | 1% |
| Arkansas | 61% | 44% | 33% | 51% | 11% |
| California | 74% | 33% | 44% | 22% | 5% |
| Colorado | 47% | 24% | 37% | 34% | 4% |
| Connecticut | 63% | 20% | 33% | 24% | 4% |
| Delaware | 57% | 14% | 40% | 13% | 2% |
| Florida | 51% | 26% | 35% | 18% | 3% |
| Georgia | 64% | 26% | 34% | 29% | 7% |
| Hawaii | 50% | 18% | 40% | 57% | 12% |
| Idaho | 58% | 42% | 25% | 38% | 3% |
| Illinois | 52% | 21% | 28% | 27% | 3% |
| Indiana | 69% | 37% | 37% | 40% | 1% |
| Iowa | 67% | 32% | 34% | 37% | 1% |
| Kansas | 61% | 31% | 38% | 40% | 5% |
| Kentucky | 65% | 20% | 29% | 30% | 3% |
| Louisiana | 46% | 25% | 27% | 31% | 4% |
| Maine | 58% | 7% | 51% | 12% | N/A |
| Maryland | 64% | 17% | 42% | 35% | N/A |
| Massachusetts | 74% | 20% | 41% | 25% | 4% |
| Michigan | 59% | 27% | 39% | 30% | 3% |
| Minnesota | 59% | 31% | 40% | 40% | 7% |
| Mississippi | 66% | 26% | 28% | 40% | 1% |
| Missouri | 62% | 18% | 26% | 34% | 2% |
| Montana | 71% | 56% | 27% | 46% | 14% |
| Nebraska | 51% | 35% | 36% | 32% | 2% |
| Nevada | 70% | 30% | 25% | 36% | 10% |
| New Hampshire | 73% | 38% | 30% | 36% | N/A |
| New Jersey | 65% | 37% | 44% | 41% | 3% |
| New Mexico | 66% | 33% | 49% | 32% | 3% |
| New York | 57% | 24% | 39% | 33% | 5% |
| North Carolina | 65% | 17% | 39% | 14% | 1% |
| North Dakota | 43% | 52% | 27% | 44% | 8% |
| Ohio | 72% | 24% | 42% | 39% | 3% |
| Oklahoma | 64% | 33% | 35% | 36% | 8% |
| Oregon | 75% | 37% | 32% | 31% | 15% |
| Pennsylvania | 79% | 25% | 36% | 34% | 4% |
| Rhode Island | 76% | 24% | 39% | 23% | N/A |
| South Carolina | 53% | 17% | 39% | 35% | 2% |
| South Dakota | 65% | 34% | 41% | 17% | 5% |
| Tennessee | 75% | 24% | 33% | 35% | 4% |
| Texas | 68% | 25% | 46% | 28% | 3% |
| Utah | 68% | 42% | 40% | 36% | 6% |
| Vermont | 48% | 48% | 35% | 43% | 1% |
| Virginia | 66% | 17% | 35% | 19% | N/A |
| Washington | 59% | 30% | 31% | 42% | 5% |
| West Virginia | 50% | 18% | 34% | 39% | N/A |
| Wisconsin | 66% | 37% | 39% | 30% | 4% |
| Wyoming | 65% | 20% | 42% | 26% | 2% |
| United States | 63% | 27% | 37% | 30% | 4% |
| Data is sourced from the United States Census Bureau Household Pulse survey. Parents were asked about children 5 - 17 years old. | |||||
Side effects are by far the main reason parents are hesitant to vaccinate their children. Nationwide, 63% of respondents said concerns over side effects would keep them from vaccinating their child. Compare that to the 55% of unvaccinated adults who are worried about side effects.
Methodology:
To find the main reasons why people are hesitant to vaccinate their children against the coronavirus, we looked into Household Pulse Survey vaccine hesitancy data for all 50 states. The response percentage for each reason was relative to the total number of respondents for each state, so the percentages don’t add up to 100%.
References:
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