Doctors say parents enthused to vaccinate children for school

Some doctors say they have received little hesitation from parents to get their children vaccinated, in the hope that they will be able to return to face-to-face classes.
Dr Errol Williamson, who has been a general practitioner for 44 years, said his patients have been open to getting their children vaccinated. “The telephone calls that come in are, generally speaking, not too anxious. They want the children to go back to school”, said Williamson. He said that parents were less keen to listen to the strange propaganda about the vaccines. Williams noted that the government should take advantage of the fact that internet trolling has not reached the children.
He added that there was little skepticism among the parents that he has spoken to. “With the deaths of the rich and famous so to speak, the message is getting across,” said Dr Williamson. However, Williamson noted that there needed to be more information given in the media about the effects of the vaccine on children, especially those with special needs. “One of my patients has a child who is autistic and she was concerned about the effects of the vaccine on such a child,” said Williamson. He added that he had to speak to the patient about the falsehood that mercury in vaccines causes autism.
“Generally speaking, I think they would want a little more information about special needs children. Is there any data that we could share with them to allay any fears?” asked Williams.
Additionally, Dr Darsie Haughton, paediatrician, said the parents were keen to get their children vaccinated. “Some people are wondering if it is necessary since the children do not get as ill as adults but with this new variant it is proven that children are getting ill, so I think parents are changing their minds a little bit more,” said Haughton.
She noted that the parents who were hesitant to get their children vaccinated, were the people who were hesitant to get themselves vaccinated. Because of this, the hesitancy should be tackled from the parental level. “The children are saying they want to go back to school, so they want the vaccine,” said Haughton.
One parent, Tanesha Daley, said she needed to see more information about the effects on children, as opposed to general effects on adults. “I have not seen information in relation to children. Most information that I have seen, the educational advertisements were for adults. So when they were focusing on adults, they showed how safe it was, just like other vaccines,” said Daley.
Even so, Daley added that she is intent on getting the information from trusted sources so her daughter, 15-year-old Diedra Raymond, can return to face-to-face classes. “If my child functions at her best in face-to-face classes because she is a visual learner, and I get clearance from the doctor, I am not gonna put her education on hold,” said Daley.
On Tuesday 24 August, a record 21,000 Jamaicans were vaccinated. Of that group, 40 percent (40%) were children aged 12-18 years.