Only 15% of area kids 5-11 are vaccinated

Experts note misinformation plays a role in parents’ hesitancy even as omicron surges

Most Houston parents have not rushed out to inoculate their children against COVID-19, new data show, the latest indication that achieving widespread immunity among the young may be a faraway prospect, even as case counts explode across the region.

Overall, about 85 percent of 5to 11-year-olds in the nine-county Houston area have not yet received a COVID vaccine, according to tallies compiled by Texas Children’s Hospital. The remaining 15 percent have had at least one dose, the lowest rate among any eligible age range.

The figures are far below what health officials hoped to see nearly two months ago when the shots became available. In promoting the shots, public officials — including first lady Jill Biden, who visited Texas Children’s Hospital in November — have struggled to reach the broad swath of parents who remain reluctant to vaccinate their children.

Dr. James Versalovic, the hospital’s pathologist-in-chief, said he hopes the arrival of the highly contagious omicron variant gives hesitant parents a renewed sense of urgency.

The doses are tailored for children and have a “tremendous safety record,” he said.

Waller, Chambers and Liberty counties have recorded uptake below 10 percent among 5- to 11year-olds since early November, when Texas health care providers received the first 1.3 million doses of Pfizer’s pediatric vaccine. In Austin County, less than 5 percent of elementary school-aged kids have gotten the jab.

And in the remaining five counties — Fort Bend, Galveston, Brazoria, Harris and Montgomery — COVID inoculations among the 5 to 11 set are above 10 percent, bringing up the overall regional

average. Still, the Houston-area numbers fall below the state average of about 17 percent having received at least one dose.

It is unclear whether the low rate of childhood vaccinations means the region has reached a saturation point, or whether harried parents simply have not had time to vaccinate their little ones.

“There’s not one specific reason why some parents haven’t vaccinated their kids,” said Jermaine Monroe, co-chair of Texas Children’s COVID Task Force. “We are trying to meet people where they are to help parents overcome their concerns.”

Monroe is part of a hospital team working to ensure equitable distribution of the vaccine by partnering with religious groups and school districts to offer popup vaccine clinics in the Houston area, complete with music and decorated selfie walls. The effort has vaccinated 35,000 children since November through appointments and the free clinics.

But it appears that even the anticipation of holiday travel did not induce a flood of vaccine-seekers. In early December, Texas Children’s still had more than 20,000 unclaimed vaccination appointments at its 12 clinics. It was a marked difference from early November, when anxious parents quickly snapped up all of the hospital’s available slots.

Christina Williams hasn’t yet vaccinated her daughter, but she plans to do so as soon as the 6year-old recovers from a sinus infection. The Houston mother has started looking for appointments online.

“It’s a necessary evil,” Williams said while finishing a meal with her family at the Love Shack in Levy Park on Friday. “Lots of people have different opinions. I’m neutral. But if that’s what is required for her to stay healthy and go to school, that’s what we’ll do.”

Health officials fear parents’ eagerness to give children the vaccine may remain muted, even as adult vaccination rates continue to creep up. According to a recent national poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Vaccine Monitor, less than a third of parents surveyed said they intended to give their child the shot “right away.”

Misinformation appears to account for many parents’ reluctance, the authors said, with many citing a fear of long-term effects. Two-thirds expressed concern the vaccine may affect their child’s future fertility, despite no evidence to support that unfounded claim in any demographic. Close to half of parents said they feared having to pay out-ofpocket for the jab.

“There’s just been so much misinformation,” said Monroe, of Texas Children’s. “There are pockets of individuals that still need more time, more information, more grace to make the right decision to get vaccinated. We don’t judge. Our role is to provide information for when they’re ready.”

Houston resident Yvonne Fedee believes the slow uptake may be due in part to parents “waiting a while to see how it goes for other people’s kids.” The mother of 9year-old twins booked her two children appointments as soon as the shot became available in early November — but said she has close relatives who refuse to get the shot.

“I’ve trusted it all along,” Fedee said. “I was counting down the months.”

While the earliest waves of the pandemic affected children at low rates, the delta variant spurred a rash of pediatric hospitalizations that overwhelmed children’s ICUs and left some kids with lingering symptoms. At least 40 Texas children in the 5 to 11 age group have died from the virus. Hundreds have been diagnosed with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C, a dangerous but poorly understood illness that arose with the coronavirus pandemic last year.

Omicron could bring another pediatric wave. Texas Children’s Hospital detected the new variant in at least 35 percent of the hundreds of viral specimens that underwent genomic sequencing last week, and that number is almost certain to grow as its prevalence increases among adult populations.

The parents of children under 5, meanwhile, will have to wait a while longer. Pfizer announced late last week its vaccine for kids ages 6 months to 5 years hit a stumbling block in trials. The modified dose was safe, but ineffective.

Kelly Humphries, a Houston mom to a 3-year-old daughter, was saddened by the setback.

“I was really looking forward to her getting one,” said Humphries.

Parents hoping to vaccinate their children can find the full list of Texas providers here. They can also call their pediatrician’s office or check vaccines.gov.