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New York is experiencing a massive surge in COVID-19 cases and COVID-related hospitalizations among children.
On Friday, the New York State Department of Health revealed hospital admissions for children under 17 years old hasquadrupledsince Dec. 5
Last week, the Department recorded that no children between ages 5 and 11 who were hospitalized were fully vaccinated. During the same week, only one fourth of hospitalized children between ages 12 and 17 were fully vaccinated.
Ahealth advisoryhas now been issued to healthcare workers warning of the alarming increase in hospital admissions.
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“The risks of COVID-19 for children are real,” Dr. Mary T. Bassett, acting State Health Commissioner, said in arelease. “We are alerting New Yorkers to this recent striking increase in pediatric COVID-19 admissions so that pediatricians, parents and guardians can take urgent action to protect our youngest New Yorkers.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention first approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for emergency use in children ages 12 to 15 backin May. The vaccine received the same approval for children ages 5 to 11 six months laterin November.
Parents can take their kids to get vaccinated at pediatrician’s offices, children’s hospitals, pharmacies and schools. Children over the age of 16 are also now eligible for booster shots.
A child getting a COVID-19 vaccine dose.Getty
The spike in pediatric hospitalizations comes as the Omicron variant continues to spread nationwide.
Last week,the CDC saidthat 73.2 percent of coronavirus cases reported between Dec. 12 to 18 were omicron. Another 26.6 percent of cases were the delta variant.
Health officials have been scrambling to learn more about the new variant since it was first spotted in South Africa.The strain is the most contagious yet, has more mutations than any before it and seems to evade the previously-effective two-dose vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna.
According to the CDC, data from South Africa and the U.K. shows that two doses of the mRNA vaccine are approximately 35 percent effective against the omicron variant. A booster shot elevates effectiveness to 75 percent.
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source: people.com
