State advocates vaccines for minors; many parents take a different view

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is calling for more children — starting at six months old, as of June 18 — to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Less than half of young children are being vaccinated, suggesting that parents have taken a different view.

The department is using social media and the internet to to recommend vaccinations for children. One document on its website reads “Why vaccinate your child against COVID-19?”

On Twitter, the department issued a message on Aug. 9: “Make sure kids don’t miss big moments, plan to get up to date COVID-19 vaccination before the school year starts. Keep kids health and the fun rolling.”

Numbers from the state COVID 19 dashboard show a reluctance to follow those words.

Only 2.3% of those age 0 to 5 are fully vaccinated. The rate increases to 26.9% for those 5 to 11. The vaccination rate for children 12 to 15 is 45.9%.

Five children in the 0-to-14 age group have died with COVID-19 in the state so far this year. It is unclear if there were other causes, known as co-morbidities, associated with those deaths. There are 1,778,233 children in Michigan who are between the ages 0 and 14. There were twelve deaths listed in the same age group in 2021.

The Centers for Disease Control now considers natural immunity a form of protection.