CNN
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High coronavirus vaccination rates among American children could prevent thousands of hospitalizations and millions of missed school days, according to a new study. analysis Published Tuesday by the Commonwealth Fund and Yale School of Public Health.
If school-age children were vaccinated with the updated Covid-19 booster at the same rate as they were vaccinated against influenza last season – 50% to 60% coverage – at least 38,000 child hospitalizations could be avoided, including about 9,000. Hospital stay. Intensive care units until March. If enhanced coronavirus coverage reaches 80% among school-age children by the end of the year, more than 50,000 hospital admissions could be avoided.
Preventing COVID-19 hospitalizations could help relieve pressure on children’s hospitals, which have been particularly full over the past few weeks as respiratory virus season — including influenza, respiratory syncytial virus and COVID-19 — sweeps the country earlier than usual. . Fewer than 1 in 4 children’s hospital beds are available nationwide, including less than 10% of beds in seven states, according to Data From the US Department of Health and Human Services.
“An overwhelmed health system means that some families may not be able to get the care their children need in a medical emergency,” Dr. Moira Szilagyi, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said. books in an op-ed on CNN, describing the situation as a “crisis.”
Transmission of COVID-19 is much lower now than it was earlier in the year; Less than 5% of the U.S. population lives in a county considered to have a high community level of coronavirus, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But more than 2,400 children were hospitalized with Covid-19 last week — nearly three times higher than the week before, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Data He appears.
The new analysis also found that higher vaccination rates can help keep children in school, a benefit that other research has found can have important effects on children. Mental health and Academic achievement.
Assuming an isolation period of five days for children with mild illness and 10 days for those hospitalized or seriously ill, bringing COVID-19 uptake in line with flu vaccines for children could prevent more than 22 million days of school absence.
But the scenarios presented in the new analysis are completely unrealistic. So far, less than 5% of school-age children have gotten an updated booster shot, according to the CDC. Data.
A record number of updated Covid-19 boosters were given in the first week of November, and US officials say they plan to push this week so people get boosters against Covid-19 in order to provide maximum protection over Thanksgiving, but overall it’s still… Low absorption. To reach 50% coverage by the end of the year, the pace of vaccination must be at least ten times faster than in November.
Coronavirus vaccination rates among children have long lagged behind those of adults. Only 32% of children aged 5 to 11 and 61% of those aged 12 to 17 have participated in their initial series of coronavirus vaccinations, compared to 78% of adults.
“Accelerated vaccination campaigns that achieve high coverage for all ages have the potential to prevent a possible imminent surge in Covid-19, protect children directly and indirectly and provide them with additional stability in terms of school enrollment and other social participation,” the study said. The authors wrote. “The cost of inaction could be high: millions of additional days of school absence and thousands of preventable child hospitalizations.”
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In this analysis, the researchers did not take into account the possibility of a new, immunologically evasive coronavirus variant, but they did take into account both naturally acquired immunity and vaccine-induced immunity, which will wane over time.
