Raising COVID-19 Vaccination Rates in Young Children

The activity, “Improving COVID-19 Vaccination Rates for Children 6 Months Through 5 Years of Age,” has three broad goals: to build overall knowledge of COVID-19 vaccines and their use in young children, to combat misinformation and disinformation surrounding the vaccines, and to improve confidence among clinicians who treat young patients. During the activity, learners will receive information on current COVID-19 vaccination recommendations along with case scenarios to guide them in implementing the recommendations in practice.

The activity comes as the number of young children vaccinated against COVID-19 has plateaued over the past several months. According to the most recent CDC data, just over 10% of children younger than age 5 years in the United States have received at least one dose of the vaccine that protects against the virus that causes COVID-19 virus; less than half that number (4.7%) have completed a primary COVID-19 vaccine series.

Two graduates of the AAFP’s Vaccine Science Fellowship program are serving as faculty members for the activity: Amra Resic, M.D., a family physician with BayCare Medical Group in Tampa, Fla., and Carlos O’Bryan-Becerra, M.D., a practicing family physician at Las Islas Family Medicine Group in Oxnard, Calif. Resic’s discussion focuses on recent updates to the vaccine recommendations and guidance on driving physician-patient dialogue, while O’Bryan-Becerra discusses evidence-based practices and vaccine hesitancy and safety.

After completing the activity, participants should be able to:

• Identify the primary recommendations, updates and guidance to drive physician-parent/caregiver dialogue on the importance of children ages 6 months through 5 years getting vaccinated against COVID-19 and adhering to the CDC recommendations;
• Identify evidence-based interventions and techniques to improve COVID-19 vaccination rates among children ages 6 months through 5 years, racial and ethnic minority populations, and children with underlying medical conditions or other risk factors;
• Identify information to build vaccine confidence and address hesitancy within the targeted patient population; and
• Identify culturally relevant educational materials to build a higher level of trust among groups with lower coverage.

In addition to the new activity, the Academy has developed several resources on COVID-19 vaccines for young children. These include a quick conversation guide to assist family physicians in providing their expert opinion on COVID-19 vaccinations to parents and caregivers, as well as updated pages on familydoctor.org designed to address the importance of the vaccines in children under 5, inform parents and combat myths associated with the COVID-19 vaccine.