by Natalie Hanson
posted April 18
A new study on COVID-19 says that parents under stress or following pandemic misinformation were more cautious about Covid treatments and vaccines for their children -– and may have ignored or directly violated COVID prevention policies, including at schools.
But it is unclear how much those behaviors may have impacted counties with lower vaccination rates and amid significant infection rates, like Butte County.
California data shows that Butte County ranks among those counties most likely to have lower numbers of vaccination against COVID -– including among school age children -– with only 52% of people eligible getting the primary vaccine series compared to the statewide average of 72%. Butte’s COVID dashboard no longer shows how many people under 18 were vaccinated locally, compared to the state’s estimate of 67% of 12-17 year olds and only 37% of 5-11 year olds. Last summer, only 17.7% of children ages 5-11 and 39% ages 12-17 were fully vaccinated, compared to the statewide averages of 36% and 67%.