42.4 Percent of U.S. Teens Have Received at Least One COVID-19 Shot

TUESDAY, Aug. 31, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Overall, 42.4 percent of adolescents aged 12 to 17 years in the United States had received one or more dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 31.9 percent had completed the vaccine series by July 31, 2021, according to research published in the Aug. 27 early-release issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Bhavini Patel Murthy, M.D., from the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues examined progress in COVID-19 vaccination in the United States among adolescents aged 12 to 17 years using data for 49 U.S. states (all except Idaho) and the District of Columbia during Dec. 14, 2020, to July 31, 2021.

The researchers found that COVID-19 vaccination coverage among U.S. adolescents aged 12 to 17 years was 42.4 and 31.9 percent for at least one dose and for series completion, respectively, as of July 31, 2021. There was variation observed by state in vaccination coverage with at least one dose (range, 20.2 percent in Mississippi to 70.1 percent in Vermont) and series completion (range, 10.7 percent in Mississippi to 60.3 percent in Vermont). Among adolescents aged 12 to 13, 14 to 15, and 16 to 17 years, respectively, 36.0, 40.9, and 50.6 percent received at least one dose, while 25.4, 30.5, and 40.3 percent completed the series.

“Public health practitioners can use multimodal outreach efforts involving a variety of traditional and social media platforms to engage adolescents and their parents to improve vaccination acceptance and coverage,” the authors write.

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