Omicron Surge in US, Hospitalized Children at Near Record Numbers

United States -- December 30, 3031: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports

that the omicron-fueled surge in COVID cases across the U.S. is sending children to the hospital at a near record rate, and two-thirds of those children have underlying conditions that put them at risk: either chronic lung disease or obesity.

None of these vaccine-eligible children were vaccinated, although more than one-third were under the vaccination age of 5. “It’s just so heartbreaking,” said Dr. Paul Offit, an infectious-disease expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “It was hard enough last year, but now you know that you have a way to prevent all this.”“They’re struggling to breathe, coughing, coughing, coughing,” Offit said. “A handful were sent to the ICU to be sedated. We put the attachment down their throat that’s attached to a ventilator, and the parents are crying.” None of the parents or siblings was vaccinated either, he said. The next four to six weeks are going to be rough, he said: “This is a virus that thrives in the winter.”“It’s just so heartbreaking,” said Dr. Paul Offit, an infectious-disease expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “It was hard enough last year, but now you know that you have a way to prevent all this.”

With all that news, children still continue to remain a small percentage of those being hospitalized with COVID-19: and 
are not as sick as over the summer delta surge.

Wnctimes Marjorie Farrington December 30, 2021