One-third of parents won’t vaccinate their kids against the flu this year

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that nearly everyone over six months old get an annual flu vaccination.

Parents who are unlikely to get flu shots for their kids cited family, close friends, and other parents as the most common sources that made them question the vaccine or opt against it. But among parents who said they will get their kids vaccinated, their child’s health care provider, nurses and medical staff were reported as the source of information that made them want the vaccine.

“Child health providers are a critical source of information to explain the rationale for annual flu vaccination and to address parents’ questions about flu vaccine safety and effectiveness,” Sarah Clark, the poll’s co-director, said in a statement. “Without clear guidance from the provider, parents may be left with misinformation, such as the suggestion that flu vaccine causes the flu.”

The poll is based on responses from 1,977 parents across the country who have at least one child ages 1-18.

Parents who said they don’t plan on getting a flu vaccine for their child reported seven times as many sources that made them be skeptical of the vaccine as sources in support of it.

“There appears to be an echo chamber around flu vaccine,” Clark says. “Parents who are not choosing flu vaccination for their child report hearing or reading opinions that question or oppose the vaccine. At the same time, parents who decided their child will get flu vaccine report opinions that largely support vaccination.”