Allegheny County officials urge adults to get vaccinated as cases in children rise

As cases of covid-19 in young children increase, Allegheny County officials have once again pleaded with the public to get vaccinated – if not for themselves, then for children who have no choice in matter.

“We know that the delta variant, combined with the still large number of unvaccinated people, is driving our trends,” said director of health Debra Bogen, “and now it’s having an impact on our children as well.”

Allegheny County Health Department reported a total of 44 new cases over two days in children under 13 on Wednesday.

This is more than the number of new cases reported among the 65 and over age group.

“This variant of covid, the delta variant, is much more contagious and spreads much faster,” said Rich Fitzgerald, county manager. “We really want to make sure that we protect our young people who don’t have the chance to get vaccinated. “

He said the idea that children who contract covid-19 will have mild illness is out the window.

“This one is different,” he said.

Throughout the month of July, 25 children in Allegheny County aged 4 and under and 85 children aged 5 to 12 tested positive for covid-19, Bogen said.

In the first 10 days of August, those numbers jumped to 67 and 121, respectively.

Bogen cited weekly reports from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association, whose latest figures indicate that among states that report data to them, between 0.1% and 1.9% of all cases of Infant covid results in hospitalization. In terms of covid-related deaths in children, it is between 0% and 0.03%.

“These are low numbers, but as the number of cases increases you are going to see more children hospitalized and unfortunately a small number, but children will die from this infection,” Bogen said.

The long-term effects of the virus on children remain unknown, she said. She added that there is no way to predict which children will get seriously ill and which children will experience mild illness.

“If it’s your kid who gets seriously ill, that’s really scary,” Bogen said.

Cases have increased in all age groups, not just in children. The average daily number of cases in the county is over 150 and the positivity rate – which hovered around 1% for most of June – is now around 5%, Bogen said.