WASHINGTON (CNN) – Adolescents who initiate COVID-19 vaccination on their own are more likely to complete the series.
That is according to research released Friday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The agency found that more than 86-percent of adolescents who received a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine later got a second dose.
But the group of 12 to 17-year-olds still lags in vaccinations.
Overall, only 42-percent have initiated vaccination and just 32 percent have been fully vaccinated.
It’s based on data collected from Dec. 2020 to July 2021 from 49 states and Washington D.C.
Vaccination rates were higher in 16 and 17-year-olds than in other adolescent age groups.
Researchers credit that to the age range having been eligible for the vaccine for a longer period of time.
The researchers say vaccines in the adolescent population will be important as schools continue to return to in-person learning.
The CDC says 52-percent of the u-s population has now been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
