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The government may have given the green light for the vaccination of children between the ages of 5 and 11, but there is a lot of doubt among the parents, the Mediahuis newspapers wrote on Wednesday. This is evident from the most recent motivation barometer of Ghent University. 51 percent of parents say they will “probably or definitely” refuse to have their child(ren) vaccinated.
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Between 15 and 20 December, the team of motivational psychologist Maarten Vansteenkiste asked 3,270 parents with at least one child aged 5 to 11 whether they plan to have their child vaccinated. Half (51 percent) probably or very definitely refuse, almost a quarter (23 percent) doubts and the rest (26 percent) is already (reasonably) sure. It is striking that the willingness among vaccinated parents is barely higher at 32 percent.
Nevertheless, the experts at the GEMS are not too concerned about the great resistance among parents. “People need time to become convinced of the usefulness of vaccination in children,” says biostatistician Geert Molenberghs (KU Leuven/UHasselt) to the Mediahuis newspapers. “There was also a lot of resistance among 12 to 15-year-olds last summer, but in the meantime 86 percent of adolescents in Flanders have been vaccinated.”
According to the experts, it is important to properly inform parents of the benefits, including through GPs and pharmacists.
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