Person in a hospital.Photo: Getty
Unvaccinated adolescents were ten times more likely to be hospitalized for COVID-19 than fully vaccinated ones asthe delta variant surged in the U.S., according to anew report from the Centers for Disease Control.
During that time, the number of unvaccinated kids aged 12 to 17 who were hospitalized with COVID-19 was 10.1 times higher than those who were fully vaccinated.
The researchers said that the data shows “that vaccines were highly effective at preventing serious COVID-19 illness.” Currently, one COVID-19 vaccine, from Pfizer, is approved for use in kids 12 to 17.
In another studyfrom the CDC on Friday, researchers determined thatmore children were hospitalizedor sent to the emergency room for COVID-19 in states with low vaccination rates.
During a two-week period from Aug. 14 to 27, emergency room visits were 3.4 times higher in the states with the lowest vaccination rates and hospitalizations were 3.7 times higher than in states with the highest vaccination rates.
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With kids under 12 years old unable to get vaccinated, the researchers emphasized the need for every eligible person to get their inoculations and protect vulnerable communities.
“Broad, community-wide vaccination of all eligible persons is a critical component of mitigation strategies to protect pediatric populations from SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe COVID-19 illness,” they said.
The states with the lowest vaccination rates are in the South and West — Alabama, Wyoming, Mississippi and Idaho all have just 39% of residents fully vaccinated.
In a White House briefing on Thursday, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky emphasized that kids are not getting sicker because of delta, but due to low vaccination rates.
“Although we are seeing more cases in children, and more overall cases, these studies demonstrated that there was not increased disease severity in children. Instead, more children have COVID-19 because there is more disease in the community,” she said,CNN reported.
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source: people.com
