American Coronavirus: These southern states have fully vaccinated less than a third of eligible adolescents. This gap could widen with young children, expert says

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For 12 to 17 year olds, a key demographic that lags behind other age groups with just 47% of full vaccines nationwide, many southern states are lagging even further behind.

Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee all have less than a third of eligible teens fully vaccinated, according to CNN analysis, as do North Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming. And that could pose a greater challenge moving forward, experts warn.

“Again, you have this geographic division where parents hold back from vaccinating their teenagers, and I have to believe they will probably hold back from vaccinating younger ones as well,” Dr Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine. at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, told CNN.

“So we are looking at maybe a very low use of this pediatric vaccine in the south and also in the western mountains, and this is going to be a problem that is going to slow us down.”

And because the Delta variant continues to be the most common form of the virus in the United States, unvaccinated children are at significant risk because this strain is more transmissible.

The United States Food and Drug Administration will meet on October 26 to discuss Pfizer’s emergency authorization application for the vaccine in children aged 5 to 11. If the FDA allows it, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will have final approval.

So far, about a third of parents of children ages 5 to 11 say they will vaccinate their child as soon as a vaccine is available for that age group, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Vaccine Monitor survey. published at the end of last month. .

But other state-level Covid-19 vaccine mandates for children could be on the horizon once the injections are approved, US surgeon general Vivek Murthy said on Thursday.

Fewer hospitalizations linked to Covid-19, more vaccinations show that the United States may be on the verge of the pandemic, but experts warn:

“I think part of the reason you’re going to see more states probably going in that direction after clearance is that we all want our kids to go back to school, to be able to stay in school and to be. safe, “Murthy told CNN. “We have lost hundreds of children to Covid.… Thousands have been hospitalized, and we could prevent a lot of that with a safe and effective vaccine.”

More than 600 children have died from Covid-19, according to the CDC.

A nurse administers a dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine at a vaccination clinic at Winter Springs High School in Florida.

Children are particularly vulnerable to Covid-19 and the flu this winter

Another vaccine that experts urge children to take is the flu shot.

“Of particular concern this season, administration of influenza vaccines with other vaccines is going well, and co-administration of influenza and other Covid-19 vaccines is encouraged,” Dr David Shay, physician at CDC National Immunization Center and Respiratory Disease said during a call for outreach and communication activities for CDC clinicians.

Clinicians should administer the vaccines to different parts of the body if possible, Shay advised Thursday.

“The recommendation for this year is that the Covid-19 vaccines can be administered regardless of the timing of other vaccines, and this would include simultaneous administration of the Covid-19 vaccine and other vaccines on the same day,” he said. he said, adding that the CDC is currently monitoring the effects of co-administering the Covid-19 vaccine.

“It’s actually encouraged if it’s helpful, and you have someone in the office getting the Covid-19 vaccine, if there is an age-appropriate flu vaccine, to come up with it. “, he explained.

Health experts have warned of the possibility that the dual threat of flu and coronavirus infections could affect already strained healthcare resources.

But even the flu shot faces some challenges.

About 44% of Americans plan to get a flu shot, according to a new survey from the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. The survey also found that 37% of adults are very or extremely worried about Covid-19 for themselves or a family member, but only 19% said they were worried about the flu.

Hope for another turning point in Covid-19 as vaccines for children draw near

“What is even more concerning, the survey found that almost one in four (23%) who are at higher risk of complications from the flu said they did not intend to get sick. get vaccinated this season, ”the foundation said in a statement.

Vaccination mandates are working, senior health official says

The increase in terms works in terms of increasing vaccinations, officials said.

Murthy, the U.S. surgeon general, told CNN on Thursday that health officials were seeing evidence of a slight increase.

More people are getting Covid-19 vaccine boosters than getting their first injections, CDC data shows

“On average, organizations that put in place vaccine requirements see a more than 20% increase in the percentage of people vaccinated,” Murthy said.

He added that such vaccine requirements are not new to the United States and their purpose is to ensure public safety.

Currently, 65.8% of people eligible to receive Covid-19 vaccines are fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.

On average, 281,303 people begin immunizations each day, according to the CDC.

This is an increase of 31.4% from last week and a decrease of 25% from the previous month.

In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio said an additional 2,000 public school workers received their Covid-19 vaccine after the city’s tenure came into effect on September 27. In the two weeks leading up to the deadline, there had been 20,000 vaccinations, he said.

“This strategy is working,” de Blasio said, adding that all 1,600 public schools are open.

CNN’s Maggie Fox, Virginia Langmaid, Ben Tinker, Michael Nedelman, Lauren Mascarenhas, Jamie Gumbrecht, and Kristina Sgueglia contributed to this report.

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