Doubt, misinformation, complacency and delays due to holidays and bad weather have combined to drive alarmingly low rates of COVID-19 vaccination among children ages 5 to 11 in the U.S., authorities said.

As of Tuesday, just over 17% were fully vaccinated, just over two months after vaccines for that age group were available. Vermont is at 48 percent, California is just under 19 percent, and Mississippi is just 5 percent.

Following the introduction of the vaccine in the fall, the number of vaccinations in the elementary school group surged, but the numbers have risen slowly since then, and the explosive spread of omicron appears to have had little effect.

Dr. Robert Murphy, executive director of the Institute for Global Health at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said the low rate is “very disturbing.” “It’s amazing.”

Indecisive parents “are taking huge risks and continuing to fuel this epidemic,” Murphy said.

The number of children under 18 hospitalized with COVID-19 in the U.S. has climbed to the highest level on record in the past few weeks.

Dr. Natasha Burgert, a pediatrician in Overland Park, Kansas, said low vaccination rates and rising hospitalizations are “a blow, especially as we’ve been trying to keep these kids healthy.”

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These vaccines have proven to be very safe and effective in reducing the risk of serious illness, hospitalization and death.

Overall, 63% of Americans are fully vaccinated. Among children aged 12 to 17, the proportion was 54%.

At least 12 countries have approved injecting young children with COVID-19. In Canada, where Pfizer cleared vaccines for 5 to 11-year-olds in November, only 2% were fully vaccinated.

Snowstorms, tornadoes and other severe weather in December along with the busy holiday season are believed to have slowed the pace of vaccinations in the United States. Still, many parents have other concerns.

Chicago mother Kendra Shaw has refused to vaccinate her two school-aged children, saying she’s concerned about the possible risks and doesn’t believe the benefits are worth it.

But this week, her 10-year-old daughter asked for vaccinations so she doesn’t miss school, while her soon-to-be 7-year-old son asked for his vaccinations so he could throw a big birthday party.

Shaw scheduled their first dose of the vaccine on Wednesday, but said: “I was really hesitant.”

Daniel Kotzin of Denver said he was confident he made the right decision not to vaccinate his 5-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son because most omicron cases appear to be mild.

“They’re basically not at risk of harm, so I really don’t see why they’d be vaccinated,” he said.

Doctors say that thinking is wrong and part of the problem.

“It’s true that kids are doing better overall than adults with COVID, but ‘not too sick’ could mean a Weeks of fever and muscle aches are painful. It could also mean MIS-C or prolonged COVID.”

MIS-C, or Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome, is a rare but serious illness associated with COVID-19 that affects many organs and often requires hospitalization.

Authorities don’t think omicron makes children and adults more severe than other variants, and say the rise in hospitalizations is partly because it’s more contagious.

Doctors said some children were hospitalized with underlying conditions such as lung disease, diabetes and sickle cell disease, which were exacerbated by omicron infections.

Dr. Jesse Hackell, a pediatrician in Pomona, N.Y., said at least 25 percent of his patients ages 5 to 11 were vaccinated, but that number has dwindled after an initial peak in the fall.

“It was a tough sell,” he said. “We’re not ready” is a common comment, Hackell said. “When I asked, ‘What are you waiting for? I kind of shrugged. I had a couple of people who said, ‘We’re not going to be the first million people. We’ll wait and see what happens.'”

A frustrated Hacker said the government’s vaccination campaign was clearly battling misinformation and “pseudoscience” that he had not seen in more than 40 years as a pediatrician.

The government needs to get tough and enforce it, he said.

“If we can get every child fully vaccinated, it’s going to go a long way. It won’t end the pandemic, but it will end serious disease,” Harker said. “It could help turn the virus into something more serious than the common cold that we can deal with.”