Vaccinating young teens presents new challenges, some parents reluctant

Hundreds of high school seniors rode in bus caravans recently to a mass vaccination site outside Hartford, Conn., where they got Covid-19 shots as a D.J. played Lady Gaga and a selfie backdrop awaited.

Now, the race is on to get to their younger siblings — and all the nation’s nearly 17 million 12- to 15-year-olds, after the Food and Drug Administration authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for their age group.

The F.D.A.’s decision, announced Monday afternoon, presents a bright new opportunity in the push for broad immunity against the coronavirus in the United States, but the challenges are more daunting than for immunizing older, more independent teenagers.

A recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Vaccine Monitor found that many parents — even those who eagerly got their own Covid shots — are reluctant to vaccinate pubescent children. Yet doing so will be critical for further reducing transmission of the virus, smoothly reopening middle and high schools and regaining some sense of national normalcy. ...

Hundreds of high school seniors rode in bus caravans recently to a mass vaccination site outside Hartford, Conn., where they got Covid-19 shots as a D.J. played Lady Gaga and a selfie backdrop awaited.

Now, the race is on to get to their younger siblings — and all the nation’s nearly 17 million 12- to 15-year-olds, after the Food and Drug Administration authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for their age group.

The F.D.A.’s decision, announced Monday afternoon, presents a bright new opportunity in the push for broad immunity against the coronavirus in the United States, but the challenges are more daunting than for immunizing older, more independent teenagers.

A recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Vaccine Monitor found that many parents — even those who eagerly got their own Covid shots — are reluctant to vaccinate pubescent children. Yet doing so will be critical for further reducing transmission of the virus, smoothly reopening middle and high schools and regaining some sense of national normalcy.

But with the school year ending soon, many health officials are racing against the academic clock to schedule both recommended doses, seeing schools as the best place to reach many students at once. ...

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