School Without Walls High School Students and COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy

Abstract

In Washington, D.C., adolescents aged 12 to 17 have a relatively low COVID-19 vaccination rate compared to the overall population of D.C.— about 66 percent of adolescents aged 12 to 15 and 62 percent of teenagers aged 16 to 17 have received at least one shot, compared to 82 percent for the whole of D.C. This number falls even further when socio-demographic data are explored. School Without Walls High School students appear to have received at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine at a higher rate than the general adolescent population. Approximately 97% of participants reported having received at least one shot compared to 95% of all Washington, D.C. residents as of April 17th, 2022 (Ivory et al., 2021), as well as 100% of participants aged 12 to 15 compared to 85% of all Washington, D.C. adolescents aged 12 to 15 as of April 17th, 2022 (Vaccination Data | Coronavirus, 2021). Two possible reasons for this are that SWWHS students appear to be both better informed than the general population about COVID-19 and the risks of contracting it, and more aware of the risk of infecting others who are more vulnerable.