According to a government study, nearly 90% of American children hospitalized for Covid this winter were not vaccinated during the Omicron wave.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that Omicron caused a record-breaking number of hospitalizations of children from December to February, and that national data on hundreds of children aged 5 to 11 highlights the importance of vaccination. .
“Increasing immunization coverage among children, especially among racial and ethnic minority groups, who are disproportionately affected by COVID-19, is critical. COVID-19-associated hospitalization and serious consequences,” the CDC said.
Although O’Micron is generally considered to be milder than prior variants, the peak intensive care unit admission rate for children was 1.7 times higher during January, when O’Micron ruled, than when the delta peaked in October. The authors said the higher rate was likely due to Omicron’s increased prevalence and the sheer number of overall infections it caused.
About 20% of children hospitalized in intensive care units with omicron wave lesions. The report found that the risk of serious illness was significantly higher for those with diabetes or obesity, and only a third of the hospitalized children had no underlying condition.
Unlike immune-impaired adults, immunocompromised children were not found to be at higher risk of severe COVID. The authors said this finding is consistent with influenza-associated hospitalizations and may be due to the lower threshold for hospital admission in children with asthma or other medical conditions.
Vaccine eligibility was expanded to include children between the ages of 5 and 11 in November, just months before a massive surge in cases of the Omicron variant. But data from last month shows that only a third of these children have received two doses.
Black children accounted for the largest share of unvaccinated and more than a third hospitalizations during the study period. According to the report, they were more likely to develop severe symptoms than white or Hispanic children.
“Implementing strategies that result in equitable access to the COVID-19 vaccine among children is a public health priority,” the report said.
Booster shots are still not authorized for children ages 5 to 11, but partners Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE have said that a third dose of their vaccine increased antibodies against the Omicron strain by 36-fold in this age group. The companies plan to file with regulators soon for authorization of the booster shot.