Adults in Detroit households with children are only about half as likely to have received a COVID-19 vaccine as those in households without children.
That’s one finding from a recent Detroit Metro Area Communities Study by the University of Michigan. It’s a regular survey of nearly 1,900 Detroit residents.
Only 38% of Detroit adults in households with children reported getting a COVID vaccine. That’s compared to 70% of Detroiters who do not live with children.
And only about one-third of Detroiters with children ages 12 to 17 report either getting their child vaccinated, or being comfortable with the idea. When asked about the likelihood of getting younger children vaccinated once they are eligible, just over 1 in 10 adults (13%) living in households with children under age 12 say they are comfortable having their kids vaccinated once they are eligible.
Researchers say the degree of vaccine hesitancy the survey shows has serious public health implications, especially as children return to schools this fall.
"This DMACS survey gives us new information about just how vulnerable the environments of school-aged children are to COVID-19," Jeffrey Morenoff, one of the faculty research leads for DMACS, said in a statement about the findings.
The city of Detroit is among the least-vaccinated jurisdictions in the state, with only about 42% of residents having received at least one shot, according to state data.
