Covid-19 boosters could keep thousands of kids out of hospitals, but uptake remains low
Cnn
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Higher COVVI-19 higher vaccination rates in American children could prevent thousands of pediatric hospitalizations and millions of missed school days, according to an analysis published Tuesday by Commonwealth Fund and the Yale School of Public Health.
If children of school age were vaccinated with the Booster Covid -19 updated updated at the same rate that they were vaccinated against flu last season – between 50% and 60% coverage – at least 38,000 pediatric hospitalizations could be avoided, including around 9,000 stays in intensive care units, until March. And if the coverage of Booster COVID-19 reached 80% in school-age children by the end of the year, more than 50,000 hospitalizations could be avoided.
The prevention of COVVI -19 hospitalizations could help relieve pressure from pediatric hospitals, which have been particularly full in recent weeks, because the respiratory virus season – including flu, RSV and COVVI -19 – sweeps the country earlier than usual. Less than 1 out of 4 pediatric hospitals is available nationally, including less than 10% of beds in seven states, according to data from the US Health and Social Services.
“The outdated health system means that some families may not be able to obtain the care their child needs for a medical emergency,” wrote Dr. Moira Szilagyi, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, in an CNN opinion article, qualifying the situation of “crisis”.
COVVI-19 transmission is significantly lower now than earlier in the year; According to US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But more than 2,400 children were admitted to the hospital with COVID -19 last week – almost three times higher than the previous week, according to CDC data.
The new analysis has also revealed that higher vaccination rates could help keep children in school, an advantage that other research has found could have significant effects on mental health and academic results.
Assuming a period of five-day isolation for children with a light illness and 10 days for those who are hospitalized or otherwise sick, bring an absorption of Booster Covid-19 in accordance with children’s daues could prevent more than 22 million days of school absenteeism.
But the scenarios presented in the new analysis are quite unrealistic. Until now, less than 5% of school -aged children have their updated booster shooting, according to CDC data.
A record number of Boosters COVID-19 updated has been administered in the first week of November, and US officials say they plan to push this week so that people are stimulated against COVID-19 in order to offer maximum protection around Thanksgiving, but the overall adoption remains low. To reach a coverage of 50% by the end of the year, the rate of vaccination should be at least 10 times faster than in November.
And COVVI-19 vaccination rates in children have long lagged behind those of adults. Only 32% of children aged 5 to 11 and 61% of these 12 to 17 years contributed their initial COVVI-19 vaccination series, compared to 78% of adults.
“Accelerated vaccination campaigns that reach high coverage at all ages have the potential to prevent a possible imminent increase in COVID-19, protecting children directly and indirectly and providing them with additional stability in terms of school attendance and other social commitments,” wrote the authors of the study. “The cost of inaction could be stiff: millions of additional days of school absenteeism and thousands of preventable hospitalizations for children.”
For this analysis, the researchers did not take into account the possibility of a new variant of immune-evasive coronavirus, but took into account both the naturally acquired immunity and induced by the vaccine which would arrive over time.
