Low vaccination rates among Georgia children under age 5

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July 27th, 2022

The CDC says data shows that COVID-19 vaccines remain the single most important tool to protect children against COVID-19 and severe illnesses. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Interest in the covid vaccine for children under 5 remains low in Georgia, even as cases in that age group have been rising in recent months.

The vaccination rate for this age group is especially important in Georgia because of the state’s large population of racial and ethnic groups disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

In Georgia, more than 32 percent of all children under 5 are Black, the third-highest rate in the nation.

Dr. Marshalyn Yeargin-Allsopp is Medical Officer for the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends children as young as 6-months receive a COVID-19 vaccine according to recently updated guidance.

Yeargin-Allsopp said children are at risk for contracting the the severe illness MIS-C, which is associated with having had COVID-19.

“Most of the children who have this severe form of a reaction to having had COVID, are minority children,” said Yeargin-Allsopp.

Nearly 20 million additional children now have access to either the Moderna or Pfizer vaccination against COVID-19.

The CDC says data shows that COVID-19 vaccines remain the single most important tool to protect children against COVID-19 and severe illnesses.

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