Utah Parents on Pros and Cons of COVID-19 Vaccine for their Children

Children starting at age 5 are eligible for COVID -19 vaccinations, we interview several Utah parents to see what they think about it all.

Gail Veley

January 4, 2022

This past spring, when children became eligible to receive the Covid-19 vaccine through Pfizer-BioNTech, it was great news to Janette, the mother of a 15-year-old daughter who lives in southwest Utah.

“I thought it was in her best interest to protect her,” Janette said. “I was trusting the medical field in making that decision.” After receiving the vaccine as well as the booster, Janette’s daughter felt no ill side effects and essentially sailed through the process.

Given the risks involved in contracting Covid-19 or it’s variants, including respiratory distress, fever, pneumonia, sore throat, cough, long-term fatigue and for some, death, receiving a vaccine could seem like an easy choice to make for a virus that caused a nationwide pandemic in March of 2020. Lockdowns, social distancing and masks immediately followed the rapid onslaught of Covid cases.

While vaccines quickly became available to adults, it would be months later before it was available to children. For those choosing to vaccinate today, protocol dictates that children ages 5-11 receive a half-dose (compared to a normal adult dosage) while those 12 and up receive a full adult-size dose.

However, given the calculated risks that parents take on a daily basis protecting their children, Jennifer, a mother of a 12-year-old boy and 14-year-old girl, feels the vaccine may be too risky for them to receive.

“I have heard from lots and lots of people that menstrual cycles have been severely interrupted by the vaccine,” Jennifer, a breast cancer survivor, said. While she herself is fully vaccinated given her weakened immune system, “with my life circumstances I have vowed to listen to my gut and not be a people pleaser,” she explained. “And my gut is saying ‘this doesn’t seem right.’ Yet, my sister-in-law is an OBGYN and had all of her daughters vaccinated.”

While Jennifer has less-specific concerns about her son receiving the vaccine versus her daughter, she is concerned about the age cutoff for receiving a full dose versus a half dose.

“I’m not in the anti-vax camp,” she emphasized. “Rather I’m in the ‘wait and see’ approach and in the ‘wait and see’ camp.” “I just don’t understand how a 12-year-old and up can get the same dose as an adult and those 11 and under get a half dose,” she said. “That concerns me. Six months ago, my son was eligible for a half dose, but now that he’s 12, he would get a full dose? There isn’t that much difference between an 11-year-old and a 12-year-old. It seems like when you are full-grown (at age 18) that is a better place to draw the line. Why 12? That’s because we are rushing to do this. They don’t know what they don’t know. I don’t believe this virus was engineered to behave like a normal virus. Getting the vaccine is not in my kid’s best interest.”

Other Utah parents who have yet to vaccinate believe their children building natural immunities is ultimately better for their overall long-term health.

“I think some vaccines are ok-ish,” offers Bre’tte, mother of an eight-year-old boy and two-year-old daughter. “But I also think that it is better for children to be natural and naturally build their immune system. Neither of my children will be vaccinated for Covid. Because with the amount of research that has been done on the vaccine there is not nearly enough for me to put them at risk. And Covid itself can be controlled by washing your hands and staying sanitary.”

However, while agreeing these viewpoints can be valid, Abby, the mother of two teenaged asthmatic daughters, ages 18 and 19, the latter of whom is substantially overweight and on the spectrum for autism, strongly felt the vaccine was the only real way to keep them both safe from succumbing to Covid. After receiving the vaccine, the overweight daughter had no side effects. Yet the other developed an immediate migraine and sore arm.

“The doctor thinks she may have already had Covid and that’s why her response was so strong,” Abby said. “But I’m glad they are both vaccinated because it’s very important for their health, well-being and safety.”

Subscribe to Utah Stories weekly newsletter and get our stories directly to your inbox

Debate, Healthy Utah

COVID vaccines for children

Gail Veley

Community Relations

Ogden Valley City Incorporates as Voters Deliver a Surprising Mayoral Outcome

Ogden Valley City has officially incorporated at a pivotal moment for northern Utah, just as growth pressures tied to the 2034 Winter Olympics begin to accelerate. Voters also delivered an unexpected mayoral outcome, setting the tone for how the new city will approach land use, local control, and the work of building a government from the ground up.

To access this post, you must purchase Utah Stories (Digital + Print) or 3 month free trial (Digital).
Members Only

Chronic Disease in America: Treating Too Late, Prescribing Too Much

Every January, Americans reflect on the year behind them and draft a familiar list of resolutions. Eat better. Lose weight. Exercise more. Reduce stress. These intentions recur not because people lack discipline, but because the underlying health conditions driving them persist.

Despite unprecedented medical spending and pharmaceutical access, the United States remains chronically unhealthy. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 76 percent of US adults live with at least one chronic condition, and over 51 percent live with two or more. The most prevalent conditions are well documented. Heart disease remains the leading cause of death, accounting for 680,981 deaths in 2023, while obesity affects more than 40 percent of US adults. Diabetes impacts 38.4 million Americans, and nearly half of adults have hypertension, a major contributor to stroke, kidney failure, and heart disease.

Treatment typically begins once disease is clinically apparent, and often relies on pharmaceuticals. Over time, this approach can lead to polypharmacy, the use of five or more medications. Patients with chronic illness frequently average two to four comorbidities, each managed independently, increasing the likelihood that side effects from one medication require another.

To access this post, you must purchase Utah Stories (Digital + Print) or 3 month free trial (Digital).
Members Only

Why We’re Less Healthy Than Our Parents and What Happened

Something has gone wrong with our health. Each generation appears sicker than the one before, despite spending more on medicine than any society in history. At the same time, trust in once-authoritative sources of health guidance has eroded as pharmaceutical advertising increasingly blurs the line between reporting and recommendation. This piece examines how lifestyle, food, and institutional incentives reshaped our understanding of health—and why reclaiming it may require more courage than another prescription.

To access this post, you must purchase Utah Stories (Digital + Print) or 3 month free trial (Digital).
Healthy Utah

A Salt Lake City Gym Uses Fitness and Community to Support Addiction Recovery

“What I think is really special about that place is that doing hard things is a way that we can become proud of ourselves,” said nursing student Vince Minutello, who has started exercising at the gym in Salt Lake City as a requirement for one of his courses.