When It Comes To Day Care, Parents Want All Children Vaccinated

toggle caption Alison Bruzek/NPR

There's been a lot of attention drawn to people who don't believe in vaccinating their children, but there are many more people who believe that vaccines are the best way to protect children from contagious disease. A recent poll shows just how concerned parents are about vaccines when it comes to putting their children in day care.

According to a poll conducted by the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health, 81 percent of parents say they believe all children in day care should be required to be up to date on vaccines. In fact, 41 percent said children who aren't up to date should be kept out of day care.

Furthermore, 70 percent of parents said they would take their children out of a child care facility where one-quarter of the children were not fully vaccinated.

A majority of parents also believed that child care providers should take responsibility for getting children vaccinated — 74 percent said day care providers should be required to check the vaccines status of each of the children every year. Overall, just 10 percent of parents said children who aren't fully vaccinated should be allowed to attend child care without any penalty.

The researchers who conducted the poll say they hope the findings will start a conversation among parents and day care providers about vaccination policies.