Omicron wave: US hospitalisations skyrocket in children too young for coronavirus shots
- The surge has heightened the concerns of parents worried about how to keep their infants and toddlers safe
- Health authorities say one of the best ways to protect the youngest children is to vaccinate everyone else
Hospitalisations of US children under five with Covid-19 soared in recent weeks to their highest level since the pandemic began, according to government data released Friday on the only age group not yet eligible for the vaccine.
The worrisome trend in children too young to be vaccinated underscores the need for older kids and adults to get their shots to protect those around them, said Dr Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
Since mid-December, as the highly contagious Omicron variant has spread furiously around the country, the hospitalisation rate in these youngest children has surged to more than four in 100,000 youngsters, up from 2.5 per 100,000.
That compares with a current rate of about one per 100,000 for children ages five to 17, according to CDC data.
In a statement, Walensky said that while children still have the lowest rate of hospitalisation of any age group, “paediatric hospitalisations are at their highest rate compared to any prior point in the pandemic”.