Children suddenly getting hit harder, hospital rates soaring
Coronavirus hospitalizations among children are exploding in New York City, the Health Department says — a turn from the previous 21 months, when children rarely landed in hospital beds and made up a minuscule portion of pandemic deaths.
Over two weeks, the rate of pediatric hospitalizations in the city had increased nearly 400%, from 22 cases to 109, state data shows.
In the New York City area, the department said, the rate of child coronavirus hospital admissions was exploding.
A relatively small number of children with COVID-19 have been admitted to city hospitals — just 109, the state says. Compare that to the statewide situation, in which thousands of hospital beds are filled with COVID-19 patients.
Still, with the omicron strain driving COVID case counts into the stratosphere, a majority of children under 11 unvaccinated, and schools set to reopen Jan. 3, the youngest New Yorkers appear to have landed in the virus’ crosshairs.
“We want pediatricians to be alert to making the diagnosis of COVID in children, and we also want parents to be alert,” Dr. Mary Bassett, the state health commissioner, said in a Monday news conference.
“Many people continue to think that children don’t become infected with COVID,” said Bassett, who recovered from a breakthrough case herself this month. “This is not true. Children become infected, and some will be hospitalized.”
The hospital spike is entwined with sluggish COVID inoculation rates for kids.
Children over 5 have been eligible to receive shots for almost two months. But about 73% of kids between the ages of 5 and 11 had yet to get a jab at the start of the week, according to state figures.
Bassett said none of the COVID hospital admissions in the New York City area were of vaccinated children between the ages of 5 and 11. About 75% of older kids who were hospitalized had not been vaccinated, she added.
During the pandemic, the state had recorded 38 deaths of New Yorkers under the age of 20 through Sunday. Those fatalities, split about evenly between people over and under 10, accounted for less than 1 in every 1,000 coronavirus deaths tallied in New York.
The increase in pediatric hospitalizations has cast a shadow over plans to reopen schools after winter break.
Gov. Hochul formed a united front on Tuesday with Mayor de Blasio and Mayor-elect Eric Adams in setting plans to keep schools running with widespread testing. But Hochul has already pleaded for parents to get shots into their kids’ arms.
“We’re just not where we need to go,” she said Monday.
The reopening of schools could arrive near a COVID peak. The state’s daily coronavirus test positivity rate almost touched 20% Tuesday, and the number of hospitalizations has so far doubled in December, according to the governor’s office.
Dr. Anthony Santella, a University of New Haven professor and infectious disease expert, said while vaccines are the most important tool to protect youngsters, parents should also focus on mask wearing and hygiene.
He cautioned the return of school could prove treacherous given omicron’s spread.
“We have to go back to being very vigilant,” Santella said Tuesday. “I wouldn’t want to be a school principal or superintendent right now. It’s going to be a huge challenge, particularly in these early days of January.”