This archive report was first published on 29 October 2021.
Published on October 29, 2021, a Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that 27 percent of parents of 5- to 11-year-olds were eager to vaccinate their children right away, while a third said they would wait and see how the vaccine rollout went.
State and local health officials are bracing for not just vaccine hesitancy, but also potential fights over vaccine mandates in schools. California's governor has already issued the nation's first statewide mandate for schoolchildren, requiring the shots as soon as next fall. The City Council in Washington is also considering a requirement.
Dr. Jessica Snowden, chief of the infectious disease division at Arkansas Children's Hospital, warned that the contention over mask mandates may pale in comparison to the debate over vaccine mandates for school children.
What to Know About Covid-19 Booster Shots ¶
The F.D.A. has authorized booster shots for millions of recipients of the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. Eligible recipients include people 65 and older, and younger adults at high risk of severe Covid-19 due to medical conditions or their occupation.
Regulators have allowed medical providers to boost people with a different vaccine than the one they initially received, a strategy known as 'mix and match.' This means that whether you received Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, or Pfizer-BioNTech, you may receive a booster of any other vaccine.
