{"id":573781,"date":"2021-06-23T07:15:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-23T11:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/?post_type=article&#038;p=573781"},"modified":"2021-06-29T17:16:01","modified_gmt":"2021-06-29T21:16:01","slug":"when-parents-disagree-over-doses-for-kids-how-mothers-caretaking-instinct-may-be-slowing-youth-covid-vaccination","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/article\/when-parents-disagree-over-doses-for-kids-how-mothers-caretaking-instinct-may-be-slowing-youth-covid-vaccination\/","title":{"rendered":"When Parents Disagree Over Doses for Kids: How Mothers\u2019 Caretaking Instinct May Be Slowing Youth COVID Vaccination"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Updated, June 23 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Get essential education news and commentary delivered straight to your inbox. <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/newsletter\/\"><em>Sign up here<\/em><\/a><em> for The 74\u2019s daily newsletter.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"drop-cap\">F<\/span>atou and Modou have two healthy children. A 5-year-old boy who likes to build Lego towers. A 7-year-old girl who\u2019s into anime. With each parenting decision the couple has faced over the years \u2014 picking a religious Sunday school for their kids, setting bedtime \u2014 they have mostly been on the same page.<\/p>\n<p>But now, the Pawtucket, Rhode Island family is split over one of the most fundamental questions of the pandemic: whether or not to vaccinate their kids against the coronavirus.<\/p>\n<p>Modou, the children\u2019s father, who asked to be identified by his middle name because of the sensitivity of discussing a family health issue, is undecided on whether he would choose to get the kids vaccinated once they become eligible \u2014 he\u2019d need to research it more first, he says \u2014 but he\u2019s largely open to COVID-19 immunization. The 36-year-old works as a nursing assistant at a state hospital and rolled up his sleeve in December of last year, as soon as the shot became available to him as a health care worker.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s necessary for everyone to get the vaccine so the country can keep moving,\u201d he told The 74.<\/p>\n<p>But Fatou, who also asked to be referred to by her middle name, strongly opposes vaccinating the children.<\/p>\n<p>She knows the shot offers protections and she knows young people can become seriously ill from the virus \u2014 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, <a href=\"https:\/\/data.cdc.gov\/NCHS\/Deaths-by-Sex-Ages-0-18-years\/xa4b-4pzv\">hundreds of minors have died<\/a> from COVID-19 \u2014 but the risks are greatly reduced for kids compared to adults, she points out, and the 32-year-old mother worries that the shot may have unforeseen side effects.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour kid could \u2026 be the kid that has the negative reaction to the vaccine,\u201d she told The 74.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can\u2019t call myself an anti-vaxxer,\u201d Fatou maintains, because both of her kids have received all the immunizations necessary for school. But she herself has also chosen to skip the COVID-19 shot. She understands the public health imperative, but something about the vaccine doesn\u2019t sit right with her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a gut thing,\u201d said Fatou. \u201cI don\u2019t want to be the guinea pig.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline_story shortcode simple\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/article\/vaccines-for-youth-12-up-expected-this-summer-but-schools-unlikely-to-require-shots\/\"><figure style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/GettyImages-1232332281.jpg);\"><\/figure><div><span class=\"sans related_tag\">Related<\/span><h4 class=\"sans\">Youth Vaccines Expected This Summer; K-12 Shot Mandates Unlikely<\/h4><\/div><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>The Pawtucket mother possesses a disarming self-awareness about her stance. She doesn\u2019t speak much about the vaccine in public because she knows it\u2019s important for as many people to get vaccinated as possible.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor the general health of everybody, it&#8217;s better for people like me to keep our opinions to ourselves,\u201d said Fatou.<\/p>\n<p>But even if Fatou and other like-minded moms are not outspoken on the topic, it appears that the Rhode Island family\u2019s predicament may well encapsulate a growing split among parents over the vaccine.<\/p>\n<p>While women have received coronavirus shots at <a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#vaccination-demographic\">higher rates<\/a> nationally than men throughout the pandemic, polling indicates that <a href=\"https:\/\/osf.io\/stacj\/\">higher shares of mothers than fathers are resistant to vaccinating their kids<\/a> \u2014 especially among parents under 36.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline_story shortcode simple\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/gender-gap-in-vaccination-narrower-among-youth-than-adults-early-numbers-show\/\"><figure style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GettyImages-1232873028.jpg);\"><\/figure><div><span class=\"sans related_tag\">Related<\/span><h4 class=\"sans\">Gender Gap in Vaccination Narrower Among Youth Than Adults<\/h4><\/div><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>A May <a href=\"https:\/\/osf.io\/stacj\/\">study<\/a>, based on a survey of over 21,000 people across all 50 states published in collaboration between universities such as Northeastern, Harvard and Rutgers, found a widening gap between mothers\u2019 and fathers\u2019 stances on inoculating their children. Since February, the percentage of fathers who said they were \u201cextremely unlikely\u201d to vaccinate their kids fell from 14 percent to 11 percent, while the share of mothers who said the same held constant at 27 percent. Among moms under 36 years old, nearly a third said they were resistant to vaccinating their kids.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe big gap persists,\u201d Matthew Simonson, lead author of the study, told The 74. \u201cFathers are becoming less resistant and mothers aren\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_573789\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-573789\" style=\"width: 873px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-573789\" src=\"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-21-at-1.03.49-PM.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"873\" height=\"481\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-21-at-1.03.49-PM.jpg 873w, https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-21-at-1.03.49-PM-300x165.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-21-at-1.03.49-PM-744x410.jpg 744w, https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-21-at-1.03.49-PM-768x423.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 873px) 100vw, 873px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-573789\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Since February, the percentage of fathers who said they were \u201cextremely unlikely\u201d to vaccinate their kids fell from 14 percent to 11 percent, while the share of mothers who said the same held constant at 27 percent. Resistance was strongest among young mothers 18-35. (The COVID States Project)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As the U.S. struggles to sustain its pace of vaccination and with President Joe Biden acknowledging Tuesday the administration would not meet its goal of giving at least one shot to 70 percent of adults by July 4 now, the parent polling numbers present a problem for America\u2019s vaccination campaign, says Simonson, a Ph.D. candidate at Northeastern University. In cases where moms are against immunizing their kids, youth vaccinations rarely happen, he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMothers are the primary decision makers about whether the children get vaccinated or not,\u201d says Simonson. \u201cEven if the fathers may be more willing, the mothers are the ones who are more involved in scheduling appointments and making health care decisions about their children.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Such is the case for Fatou and Modou. Though the parents\u2019 stances on the issue diverge, Fatou says that the ball is \u201cmore in [her] court\u201d for any final decisions.<\/p>\n<p>She is not ignorant to the stakes of the pandemic. In October of last year, COVID-19 claimed the life of her dearest friend\u2019s father, who she described as one of her \u201cparent role models.\u201d He had coached her basketball team growing up, and Fatou and Modou, who are Muslim, would attend Christmas parties at his house every year.<\/p>\n<p>The pandemic \u201cdefinitely has hit closer to home,\u201d Fatou said.<\/p>\n<p>Still, the personal experience has not made Fatou any less skeptical about the vaccine. She tried reading academic journals on the topic, but had a tough time decoding the findings.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[Studies] can tell me that five plus seven is two, and I will be like, \u2018Oh, OK, that makes sense in your world,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cIt&#8217;s all a trust game for me because I just don&#8217;t feel like I can understand all of the pieces at play.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So Fatou, who works as an advisor for <a href=\"https:\/\/www2.ed.gov\/programs\/trioupbound\/index.html\">Upward Bound<\/a> at Rhode Island College, is left trying to make sense of what she hears from others. That\u2019s true of many mothers, says Simonson.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe way that we make these decisions is not in isolation, it\u2019s socially,\u201d said the Northeastern researcher.<\/p>\n<p>He says the social factor may represent a major part of the vaccine hesitancy equation, especially for moms. Simonson hypothesizes that among young mothers who socialize with other young mothers, there could be an \u201cecho chamber effect\u201d that stigmatizes COVID-19 shots for children.<\/p>\n<p>In a portion of his study where respondents typed into a text box to explain their personal reasons for not getting vaccinated, many individuals expressed concerns over the authorization process, worrying that it was still an experimental vaccine, Simonson explained. Extrapolating to children, it would be reasonable to conclude that the caretaking instinct is a key component of some mothers\u2019 resistance, he thinks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s coming from a place of really wanting what&#8217;s best for their children and thinking, mistakenly, that they&#8217;re playing it safe by being vaccine hesitant. Whereas actually, playing safe is to get your kid vaccinated,\u201d said Simonson.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, over 300 young people have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thedenverchannel.com\/news\/national\/coronavirus\/cdc-300-young-people-got-rare-heart-issue-after-covid-19-vaccination-most-cases-not-severe\">experienced heart inflammation<\/a> after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/article\/the-week-in-covid-education-policy-surge-of-suicide-attempts-by-teen-girls-parents-not-thrilled-about-learning-recovery-solutions-13-key-updates-on-students-and-schools\/\">a higher-than-expected number<\/a> which may be stoking parental fears. A CDC safety group said Wednesday there\u2019s a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/healthcare-pharmaceuticals\/us-panel-review-heart-inflammation-cases-after-pfizer-moderna-vaccines-2021-06-23\/\">likely association<\/a> between the condition and the vaccine, mostly in adolescent and young adult males after receiving their second shot. The CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices was meeting Wednesday to assess the situation. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky has stressed that heart inflammation cases in young people are still exceedingly rare and are, in most instances, mild. The benefits of vaccination far outweigh the risks, she has said. Others, however, are not so sure, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mercurynews.com\/2021\/06\/18\/cdc-delays-meeting-on-kids-covid-vaccine-heart-risk\/\">including Dr. Marty Makary,<\/a> a professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health, who is recommending kids not get the second dose of the vaccine until the heart complication is \u201cproperly reviewed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As the more infectious Delta COVID-19 variant takes hold in the U.S., health experts have voiced concern that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2021\/06\/21\/scott-gottlieb-delta-covid-variant-will-spread-more-easily-in-schools.html\">unvaccinated young people could become a focal point for viral spread this summer and fall<\/a>. Philip Chan, medical director for the Rhode Island Department of Health, knows that kids can fall seriously ill when they contract the virus and encourages parents of vaccine-eligible children to get their kids immunized.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe vaccines are highly effective against the Delta variant,\u201d he told The 74. \u201cWe have to vaccinate everyone in order to get through this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Highlighting a silver lining from his study, Simonson points out that parents of older children report being marginally less vaccine resistant than parents of younger kids. That happens to align well with the chronology of the FDA\u2019s expansion of emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. The Northeastern University researcher hopes that, over time, there will be a \u201ctrickle down\u201d effect, by which younger parents become more open to immunizing their own kids after watching as slightly older children safely receive COVID-19 doses.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline_story shortcode simple\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/article\/as-fda-approves-shots-for-youth-12-and-up-school-districts-get-creative-promoting-vaccine-to-teens\/\"><figure style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/178580189_10158930101882931_5560459164790737126_n.jpeg);\"><\/figure><div><span class=\"sans related_tag\">Related<\/span><h4 class=\"sans\">How Schools Are Getting COVID-19 Shots to Eligible Students<\/h4><\/div><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>Modou, who knows his wife needs to make an independent decision on the issue, hopes that a similar evolution may occur in his household.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not really that forceful,\u201d he said. \u201cI tend to just lay back \u2026 and maybe she would come around.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline_story shortcode simple\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/newsletter\/\"><figure style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/the74million_logo.png);\"><\/figure><div><span class=\"sans related_tag\">Related<\/span><h4 class=\"sans\">Sign up for The 74\u2019s newsletter<\/h4><\/div><\/a><\/aside>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Updated, June 23 Get essential education news and commentary delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up here for The 74\u2019s daily newsletter. Fatou and Modou have two healthy children. A 5-year-old boy who likes to build Lego towers. A 7-year-old girl who\u2019s into anime. With each parenting decision the couple has faced over the years [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":573792,"menu_order":0,"template":"","categories":[190],"tags":[939,1043,1198,1452,1500,1056,1118,956,1235],"series":[1059,904],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/573781"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/573781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":574162,"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/573781\/revisions\/574162"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/573792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=573781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=573781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=573781"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=573781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}