Colorado likely to fail Governor’s pediatric vaccination rate goal of 50% by end of January 2022

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Update: The Office of Governor Jared Polis responded to KRDO regarding not meeting its January 2022 goal of having 50% of children 5 to 11 years old, statewide, fully vaccinated:

"Colorado currently ranks 15th in the country for our efforts to vaccinate children 5-11 years old. The reality is that we are seeing nationwide that parents are still gathering fact-based information about the safe and effective vaccine before getting their children vaccinated. The Polis administration anticipated this could be the case and that’s why the state focused on enrolling additional pediatricians and primary care providers to provide our parents and children with good science and peace of mind knowing their kids are protected.”

Original:

At Children's Hospital Colorado Springs, children 5 to 11 years old began receiving COVID-19 vaccinations on the very first day they became eligible to do so in November 2021. That very same day, Governor Jared Polis proclaimed a pediatric vaccination rate goal for the state of Colorado.

“Our goal is to protect a majority, over 50-percent of kids, by the end of January," Governor Polis said on November 8, 2021. "And we’re doing that with so many partners across the state.”

But, so far, only 27% of kids in that age group, statewide, are fully vaccinated. 36% have at least one dose. With roughly 479,000 kids in Colorado, the data shows we fall short of Governor Polis' January goal.

Dr. Sara Suporta-Keating of Childrens Hospital Colorado Springs says parents of children 5 to 11 years old are still holding back from having their kids roll up their sleeves.

She says many parents are concerned about timing, citing lingering concerns over how quickly the vaccines were rolled out for adults just over one year ago.

"The type of technology we use to test these vaccines, these days..." Dr. Suporta-Keating says. "Know that no one is cutting corners. We would not put this out there if we did not know with certainty that it was safe."

The Pediatric Infectious Diseases expert says she understands the concern.

“They’re worrying, and it’s a parents job to worry. I’m a parent, I understand how that works," she says.

Dr. Suporta-Keating says there's also a misconception that COVID-19 doesn't affect children as severely as it does adults -- leaving parents to question why they should have their child vaccinated at all.

"But we know that there are kids who actually are getting very sick and kids that are hospitalized," she says. "And some kids have unfortunately even died from having COVID complications.”

Childrens Hospital Colorado Springs says, typically symptoms in kids are mild compared to adults, but this isn't a reason to stray from protecting children with the COVID-19 vaccine.

“While there are some risk factors we can predict where you might be at risk for complications of COVID, there are still some healthy kids that are hospitalized from complications," says Dr. Suporta-Keating.

KRDO has reached out to Governor Jared Polis' office for response.

To read on vaccine deliberation by Childrens Hospital Colorado Springs, click here.

For information on where you can receive a free COVID-19 vaccine, click here.

For a look at state COVID-19 data, click here.