Vaccines are rolling, but will parents vaccinate their children?

"If we will not succeed in vaccinating the children, there is no way we will reach herd immunity."

By SARAH BEN-NUN
Schools reopen after third national coronavirus lockdown, Feb. 11, 2020 (photo credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/ MAARIV)
Schools reopen after third national coronavirus lockdown, Feb. 11, 2020
(photo credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/ MAARIV)
Only 41% of parents are committed to vaccinating their kids between the ages of six to 15 once the vaccine is approved for those ages, according to a new survey by the Rushinek Institute that was obtained and exclusively reported on by Channel 13 on Tuesday.
Of the rest of parents surveyed, 29% said they don't plan on vaccinating their children even when that becomes a possibility. The remaining 30% said they were still debating.
Ortal Trebelissi, a mother of four from Netanya, told Channel 13, "I will vaccinate my children for the same reason that I vaccinated myself: The pandemic is here, and we can't deny it. We need to do everything we can to fight against it."
Another mother of four, Maya Chaduv from Jaffa, concurrently told Channel 13, "I will not vaccinate my kids."
Why? "There are increasing amounts of testimonies of side effects: exhaustion and headaches – I don't want to put my son through that."
Last week, a Health Ministry report showed that those infected under the age of 40 constituted a whopping 75% of infections, while only 7% of positive tests were from people over the age of 60.
By population, 51% of the general population are set to vaccinate their kids. This estimate drastically drops when compared to the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) population, at 35%, and the Arab population at 32%.
"We are seeing two excuses for not vaccinating kids: fear of side effects and, specifically among women, a fear of fertility complications," Ofik Rushinek, CEO of the Rushinek Institute, told Channel 13.  
Medical professionals have debunked and warned against propagations that the COVID-19 vaccine causes infertility.
The second reason, said Rushinek, is a mistrust of "the establishment," the government's handling of the pandemic and the vaccine campaign.
For example, among 11th graders, only four out of 10 have been vaccinated so far. Children under the age of 18 require parental accompaniment, or, if that isn't possible, a parent's signature.
On Saturday, the University of Oxford initiated a study to examine the safety and effectiveness of their AstraZeneca vaccine for children.
On Friday, a New York Times report analyzed how though Pfizer and Moderna have both begun the enrollment of children 12 and older in clinical trials, results are only expected as soon as this summer.  
A Channel 13 journalist asked a few students for their first association to the word "vaccine." Their responses ranged from serious and extreme fears – "future complications," "brain complications" – to "pain," "lockdown" and "not fun."
The next three responses were more optimistic: "fun," "things are starting to look up" and "back to normalcy."  
Out of seven children asked by Channel 13 if they are afraid to get vaccinated, four said they were. One of these four said they want to get the jab anyway.
"I don't know how safe it is; it came out really quickly, that's scary," one child said.
"If we do not succeed in vaccinating the children, there is no way we will reach herd immunity," Sheba Medical Center's Dr. Galia Barkai told Channel 13. Children make up 30% of Israel's population.


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