Most parents want their children aged 5-11 to be vaccinated and prefer they receive the Pfizer vaccine produced using mRNA technology, a survey has revealed.
The findings were obtained via a social media survey conducted by Dr Yong Poovorawan, head of the Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology at Chulalongkorn University.
On his Facebook page, Dr Yong said the nationwide survey was carried out from Feb 11-13 with 3,588 parents of children aged 5-11 responding to it.
The respondents came from various occupational backgrounds and most of them live in Bangkok and the surrounding provinces, he said.
Dr Yong insisted the national vaccination is on a voluntary basis. The 5-11 year-olds are the last population group to be offered the Covid-19 inoculation, he said.
Of the parents who answered the survey, 75% said they will consent to their children being inoculated while 24% said they will not, he said.
When asked about vaccine they prefer to be made available to their children, 59% said Pfizer, followed by Sinopharm (30%) and Sinovac (5.6%), according to the survey.
Dr Yong said three-quarters of parents would allow their children to be vaccinated. The majority of those who would not permit their children to have the vaccine said they were concerned about side effects, he said.
He noted it would be useful for parents to make an informed decision about whether to let their children get a jab if they were educated enough about the vaccine.
