U.S. hospitalizations skyrocket in children too young for COVID shots
Hospitalizations of U.S. children under five with COVID-19 soared in recent weeks to their highest level since the pandemic began, according to government data released Friday on the only age group not yet eligible for the vaccine.
The worrisome trend in children too young to be vaccinated underscores the need for older kids and adults to get their shots to help protect those around them, said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Since mid-December, with the highly contagious Omicron variant spreading furiously, the hospitalization rate in these youngest kids has surged to about four in 100,000 children, up from 2.5 per 100,000.
The rate among children ages five to 17 is about one per 100,000, according to the CDC data, which is drawn from more than 250 hospitals in 14 states.
Overall, “pediatric hospitalizations are at their highest rate compared to any prior point in the pandemic,” Walensky said.
She noted that just over 50% of children ages 12 to 18, and only 16% of those five to 11, are fully vaccinated.
The overall hospitalization rate among children and teens is still lower than that of any other age group. And they account for less than 5% of average new daily hospital admissions, according to the CDC.
On Tuesday, the average number of under-18 patients admitted to the hospital per day with COVID-19 was 766, double the figure reported just two weeks ago.
The trend among the very youngest kids is being driven by high hospitalization rates in five states: Georgia, Connecticut, Tennessee, California and Oregon, the CDC said.
The severity of illness among children during the Omicron wave seems lower than it was with the Delta variant, said Seattle Children’s Hospital critical care chief Dr. John McGuire.
“Most of the COVID+ kids in the hospital are actually not here for COVID-19 disease,” McGuire said in an email. “They are here for other issues, but happen to have tested positive.”
Top infectious-disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said this week that Omicron appears to cause less-severe disease overall, but that the sheer number of infections because of its extreme contagiousness will mean that many more children will get infected, and a certain share of them will wind up in the hospital.
Fauci and Walensky have emphasized that one of the best ways to protect children is to vaccinate everyone else.
Doctors had hoped the new year might bring a vaccine for young children, but Pfizer announced last month that two doses didn’t offer as much protection as hoped for in youngsters ages two to four.
Pfizer’s study has been updated to give everyone under five a third dose, and data is expected in early spring.