evidence: - Safety and potential side effects continue to be prominent concerns when it comes to parents’ views of COVID-19 vaccines for kids. While about six in ten parents (63%) say they are confident that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe for adults, fewer say they are confident the vaccines are safe for children between the ages of 12 and 17 (52%) and for children ages 5 to 11 (43%). Most parents say getting infected with COVID-19 would be a bigger risk to their child’s health than getting vaccinated. However, majorities of unvaccinated parents and Republican parents believe the vaccine poses a greater risk than the virus itself, even though scientific bodies have concluded the opposite is the case. [...] Among parents of children ages 5-17 who attend school, about half (49%) say their child’s school has provided them with information about how to get a COVID-19 vaccine for their child, and nearly as many (44%) say the school has encouraged parents to get their child vaccinated. One in five parents say the school has asked about their child’s COVID-19 vaccination status while a much smaller share (9%) say the school has said they will require students to be vaccinated to attend school in-person.