Editor’s Note Search the Coronavirus Resource Center for the most recent COVID-19 news and guidance, and information.
After a brief period of pause, weekly COVID-19 children’s cases returned to the upward trend that began in November, based data from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Children’s vaccinations However, they continued to do the opposite by falling for the fourth consecutive week and the biggest drop during the week of Dec. 7-13 coming from those most recently eligible, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
New COVID-19 cases were up by 23.5 percent during the week of Dec. 3-9, following an interval of two weeks that saw the number of cases drop, then an increase, the AAP and CHA reported in their latest weekly COVID report. From 3 December. 3 to Dec. 9, there were 164,000 COVID-19 cases across 46 states (Alabama and Texas stopped reporting in summer 2021, while New York has not reported by age), New York City, Puerto Rico and Guam.
The increase occurred across all four regions of the nation The largest portion came in the Midwest, with over 65,000 new cases, followed by the West (just over 35,000) as well as the Northeast (just under 35,000), and the South (close to 28,000) The AAP/CHA data show.
The 7.2 million cases reported in children as of December. 9 comprise 17.2 percent of all cases reported in the United States since the start of the pandemic, with available state reports indicating that the proportion varies from 12.3 percent in Florida to 26.1% in Vermont. According to the AAP/CHA, Alaska has the highest COVID incidence at 19,000 cases per 100,000 kids and Hawaii has the lowest (5300 per 100,000) of all states currently reporting.
State reports on vaccinations reveal that 37% of children aged 5-11 years in Massachusetts have received at least one dose, which is the most of any state, while West Virginia is lowest at just 4 percent. The highest rate of vaccination for children aged 12-17 years goes to Massachusetts at 84%, with Wyoming lowest at 37 percent according to the AAP stated in an independent report.
Nationally, new vaccinations decreased by a third during the week of Dec. 7-13, in comparison to the previous week, with the highest decline (34.7%) of the decline coming from five to 11-year-olds who accounted for the majority (almost 84 percent) of the 430,000 brand new vaccines given to children by the CDC’s COVID Data Tracker. The declines that occurred in the previous week were 27.5 percent for 12- to 15-year olds and 22.7 percent for children aged 16-17.
As of December 13, 21.2 million children between 5 to 17 were vaccinated at least one dose. 16.0 million had been fully vaccinated. The CDC stated that 19.2 percent of children aged 5-11 have received at least one dose and that 9.6 percent of them are fully vaccinated. This compares to 62.1%, 52.3%, and 62.3 percentage for children ages 12-17.
This article first appeared on MDedge.com, part of the Medscape Professional Network.
Content Source: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/964809?src=rss
