How Vaccine Self-Awareness Laws Can Help Teens With Anti-Vaccine Parents
Now that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for children between the ages of 12 and 17, all teens are eligible for the vaccine, but some teens who would like to get vaccinated cannot do so because they do not have parental consent. In a recent poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation, only 3 out of 10 parents surveyed said they would get their children vaccinated right away. In the same survey, almost one in four parents said they definitely would not vaccinate their child. However, the other parents wanted to wait and see. So what should a teenager who wants to get vaccinated do?
“This is not new, but it still feels very new because of the urgency involved and because of what is at stake for children,” said Cora Breuner, a Seattle-based pediatrician and spokesman for the American Academy of Pediatrics. “As pediatricians, we are well aware of how difficult it is for some of our patients to get vaccinated when their parents are not on board.”
For many adolescents, as well as adults, vaccination is seen as a way to return to a more normal life, and also as a way to protect their loved ones. But if a teenager wants to get vaccinated but his parents disagree, what are his options?
While their choices are limited, there are strategies teens can try, from trying to educate their parents about the importance of vaccinations to researching vaccine consent laws in their states.
VaxTeen.org is committed to helping teens sell the vaccine to their parents.
Realizing that many of her peers do not know their rights when it comes to consenting to vaccinations – and to address the challenges teens face with vaccinations when their parents disagree – Los Angeles teen Kelly Danielpour launched the VaxTeen website . .org . As Danielpour told the New York Times , “We automatically talk about parents, but not about teenagers, because they have their own opinion about this.”
VaxTeen offers teenagers information about vaccines, including resources on how to explain to their parents why they are important. Information includes CDC vaccine guides, suggestions on how to talk to parents about vaccinations, and information on various myths and misconceptions about vaccine safety.
When teens try to talk to their parents who have doubts about vaccinations, Brainer advises to act with an open mind and readily understand their parents’ concerns and concerns, while continuing to validate that vaccines are safe. “The data is really clear,” she said.
It is important to understand that parents’ fear is based on their desire to do what is best for their child. Breuner advises taking an open-minded approach to their questions and concerns. “Families come up with tons and tons of questions that are legal,” she said. Faced with these questions, she tries to reveal their fears as much as possible in order to allay their root fears.
For teens with hesitant parents, she recommends finding a source, be it a pediatrician or community leader trusted by their parents, since reaching out to authority is often the most effective way to get them to change their minds. “Help them find a reason [to] vaccinate their children,” Brainer said.
Research vaccine self-consent laws
In addition to teaching materials, VaxTeen also includes detailed information on vaccine self-acceptance laws from state to state. In some states, teens may agree to the vaccine, while in others they will either have to convince their parents or wait.
Rules for obtaining parental consent to vaccinate minors vary from state to state. For young children, parental consent is required for all vaccines. When they reach adolescence, the laws change . For children between the ages of 12 and 15, only five states allow exceptions: in North Carolina, teenagers can get vaccinated without parental consent; in Tennessee and Alabama they can do it at age 14; in Oregon, the age of consent is 15; while Iowa lets the healthcare provider decide. When teens turn 16, more states have more exceptions, but the specifics vary greatly.
Teenagers who want to get vaccinated but do not have parental consent are in dire straits – forgiven for feeling like they have no control over their bodies and their future. As difficult as this situation is, they still have some disabilities, whether it is trying to allay parental concerns or giving their own consent – provided it is legal where they live.