Vaccination of children in the US mimics trend in adult population

After three weeks of COVID-19 vaccination for American children ages 5 to 11, some familiar patterns are beginning to emerge.

Children are being vaccinated faster in the same states where adult population rates are highest, according to a data review from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, for its acronym in English).

Vermont leads the country. 27% of its population aged 5 to 11 had received a first dose by November 22. It also surpasses most other states in terms of total population.

Similarly, the southern states (Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana) who lag behind in vaccinating adults also take longer to give the first doses to children.

In all, the CDC showed that 2.84 million young children, or 10% of that population, have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Vaccines for young children were approved by the government on November 2.

At least part of the difference may be due to data reporting delays. The information of the CDC tracks the situation in situ for several days, and the vaccination effort in young children has only been active for a few weeks.

A handful of states also have data clarity issues: The numbers for the CDC for Idaho do not show data for children ages 5 to 11, and data for the CDC for Maryland they are far below what the state itself registers.

But the paperwork doesn’t explain all the gaps between the states. Disparities in childhood vaccination mimic what the United States has seen in the past 11 months of administering COVID vaccines, and all the policies, doubts, and debates are likely to repeat themselves.