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Jul 8, 2022 - Health

Children under 5 getting vaccinated at slower pace than previous groups

Julia Shapero

A healthcare worker administers a dose of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine to a 4-year-old child at the Brooklyn Children's Museum vaccination site. Photo: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Children under the age of 5 are getting vaccinated against COVID-19 at a slower rate than other age groups, according to the AP.

Driving the news: About 300,000 children between 6 months and 5 years of age, or about 2% of the age group, have received the COVID-19 vaccine since it became available, CNN reported.

  • Fifteen percent of children ages 5 to 11 received the vaccine in the first three weeks after it was authorized, according to CNN.

Yes, but: U.S. officials expected vaccination to be slower among this age group, the AP noted.

  • Parents will likely prefer to take their children to pediatricians' offices to get the shot, according to the AP.
  • There is also greater hesitancy about the need to vaccinate children, who are less likely to develop severe illness or die from COVID-19, the AP noted.
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