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The school principal has been begging Bonea Cosey for weeks: Will she please get her 7 and 11 year olds vaccinated against Covid?

Miss Cosey remained determined. A hard no.

But Mr Kip – Brigham Kiplinger, Garrison Elementary School In Washington DC – fend off “goodies”.

Mr. Kip has been calling, texting, nagging, scamming the school’s parents every day since the federal government allowed the coronavirus vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 nearly three months ago. Acting as a vaccine advocate—a job often run by medical professionals and public health officials—has become central to her role as an educator. “Vaccination is the most important thing to happen this year to keep children in school,” said Mr. Kiplinger.

Thanks in large part to Mr. Kiplinger’s skill as a parent vaccine whisperer, Garrison Elementary has become a public health anomaly: Eighty percent of the 250 Garrison Wildcats in grades kindergarten through fifth grade now have at least one shot, he said.

But as an Omicron variant raided America’s classroomsBy sending students home and in some cases to the hospital, America’s 28 million children ages 5 to 11 are overall less vaccinated, even lower than health professionals feared. According to a new analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation based on federal data, only 18.8 percent are now fully vaccinated and only 28.1 percent have received a dose.

The difference in rates between states is huge. 52 percent of fully vaccinated children in Vermont; In Mississippi it is 6 percent.

“Getting the kids vaccinated is going to be a long struggle at this point,” he said. Jennifer Kate, senior vice president at Kaiser specializing in global health policy. He says it will take an unwavering persistence like that of Mr. Kiplinger, whom he knows firsthand because his child is going to school. “Reaching parents is a difficult task.”

After the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was approved for young children in late October, the spike in demand lasted for several weeks. It peaked just before Thanksgiving, then dropped rapidly, and has stalled ever since. It is now navigating 50,000 to 75,000 new doses per day.

Dr. “I’m surprised that interest in vaccines for children has waned so quickly,” Kates said. “Even parents who were vaccinated themselves were more cautious about getting their children vaccinated.”

Public health officials say persuading parents to vaccinate their young children is crucial not only to maintain face-to-face education but also to contain the pandemic in general. With the peak of adult vaccination — 74 percent of Americans Those 18 and older are now fully vaccinated, and most of those who don’t seem increasingly sedentary — unvaccinated primary school children remain a major, turbulent source of spillover. They can unknowingly act as viral vectors countless times a day, on the bus commute to school, passing through school corridors, bathrooms, classrooms, and gyms.

Parents give numerous reasons for their hesitation. And with their innate protective caution on behalf of their children, they are susceptible to widespread misinformation. For many working parents, the hurdle is logistical rather than philosophical, as they struggle to find time to take their children to the clinic, doctor’s office, or pharmacy for vaccinations.

In some communities where adult opposition to vaccines is strong, local health departments and schools strongly discourage vaccines for children for fear of backlash. Pharmacies may not even bother to stock child-sized doses.

Despite the proliferation of hospitals full of Covid, sick children and the highly contagious aspect of Omicron, many parents affected by last year’s surges, which are generally not as drastic as adults, do not believe the virus is dangerous enough to warrant risk. their children’s health is on a new vaccine.

Health communication experts also blame this view on early mixed messaging around Omicron, which was originally described as “mild” but also described as a variant that could puncture a vaccine’s protection.

Many parents interpreted these messages as the shots served little purpose. In fact, the vaccines have been shown to potently protect against serious illness and death, although not as effective as other variants in preventing infections with Omicron.

And, according to a report last week, caseloads of children diagnosed with Covid continue to rise. Highlights the American Academy of Pediatrics. Academy president Dr. Pressing for higher vaccination rates, Moira Szilagyi said, “About two years after this pandemic, we know that this disease is not always mild in children, and we have seen some children suffer from serious illnesses. Both in the short term and the long term.”

Recognizing the urgency fans Percentage of Covid shots doubles efforts to persuade parents. American Academy of Pediatrics put together talking points for pediatricians and parents. Kaiser’s own parent friend vaccination information area. Patsy Stinchfield is a nurse-practitioner and president-elect. National Infectious Diseases Foundationmaintains an extensive talk show, answering Covid vaccine questions from parents, teens, pediatricians, and radio talk show hosts.

The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health just published a post. free, online training course helping to give pro-vaccine parents language and ways to approach their resistant friends. It provides vaccine facts, resources and techniques to keep them engaged.

One tip is to share personal stories about Covid to base the purpose of the vaccine on real-world experience. Another is to normalize the Covid vaccine by proudly telling friends and family when kids get the Covid vaccine.

Rupali LimayeThe co-scientist who worked on vaccine messaging at Bloomberg and developed the course said giving parents the tools to persuade others about Covid vaccines could boost uptake rates, especially at this time when some hesitant parents are rejecting their pediatrician’s advice. As peers call “vaccine ambassadors,” they have more time and use less power dynamics than offended doctors. Dr. “This is an extremely sensitive topic for many people,” Limaye added.

Kiplinger, who has been Garrison’s manager for five years, has been working on a daily parent call list since November. She says she understands her concerns as she went through the same mental gymnastics before deciding to vaccinate her two young sons.

He badgers it whenever he can: At lunch, he asks students to raise their hands if they have the Covid vaccine, applauds them, and encourages others to keep poking their families.

“I’m such a pain in the ass,” he admitted. “I molest them with love.”

Covid has been particularly cruel to Black and Hispanic families whose children make up about 80 percent of the school population. Mr. Kiplinger understands that as a white man, he has a limited reputation for asking these parents to trust vaccines, and so he struggles with Black pediatricians to provide medical information and approval.

“Given the history of understandable medical distrust in communities of color, hesitation is natural and understandable,” he said. “But we must overcome our natural fear of the new and unknown and take every precaution we can to keep our Wild Cats at school and safe.”

Many parents said they couldn’t fire their kids to get vaccinated. That’s why Mr. Kiplinger coordinated with a city program to keep Covid vaccine clinics in the school cafeteria between 3:30 pm and 7 pm, carer-friendly. stretch out your arms.

Garrison parent Ms. Cosey, who had steadfastly resisted Mr. Kiplinger’s urging for weeks, worried that the vaccine might exacerbate her son’s many allergies. “It took me a while to do more research,” he said.

He took both children to a school clinic earlier this month. Yes, her pediatrician encouraged her, but she also values ​​Mr. Kiplinger. He laughed. Fifth grader has been on Garrison since kindergarten: “Mr. Kip is more like family, so when I say he’s been nagging, it’s a good nag!”

He said this at the school clinic: “Mr. Kip took a million photos! He was so excited that I decided to go in.”

Mr. Kiplinger is determined to transform the remaining stocks of vaccines at Garrison. She last waited at the vaccination clinic as a mother arguing with her husband on the phone. “Mom and the four Wildcats wanted to shoot, but for Dad it was a ‘no’. He broke my heart,” he said.

“But we have another clinic close by,” he added, “and I’m hoping maybe that will come too.”