Pediatric COVID-19 cases continue to surge amid low vaccination rates

Editor's Note

There has been a significant surge of COVID-19 cases among children for 2 consecutive weeks, according to a report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) published on November 3, Becker’s Hospital Review November 9 reports.

In the first week of November, almost 30,000 children tested positive for COVID-19, a 30% jump from the 23,000 cases reported the previous week. AAP also noted that these numbers are likely undercounted. As the cases among children continue to rise across the US, pediatric COVID-19 vaccination rates continue to lag.

Another report, titled "Update on Children’s COVID-19 and Routine Vaccination Trends Heading into Winter and as Respiratory Viruses Surge" and published by the Kaiser Family Foundation on November 9, noted the following data. As of November 3:

• only 3.2% of children under 5 are vaccinated
• 31.8% between the ages 5 -11 are vaccinated
• 61.1% aged 12-17 are vaccinated

The surge of cases, combined with low vaccination rates, is creating further pressure on pediatric hospitals—which are already at capacity or facing high volumes of patients with other respiratory illnesses, such as the flu or RSV, as reported by OR Manager on October 25.