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Angela Morris said she was resisting Covid-19 vaccinations for herself and her 13-year-old daughter, believing that other preventative measures, like mainly staying at home and wearing masks, would be enough to avoid the infection.
But on July 1, Morris wrote on Facebook that his daughter, Caia Morris Cooper, had tested positive for Covid. Two days later, she informed her friends that her daughter had been admitted to the Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock and was on a ventilator.
“I’m so scared right now and I feel so helpless,” she posted.
Almost two weeks later, Caia remained in hospital, Morris said on Friday, and was intubated again after being removed from a ventilator Thursday night.
Her daughter’s spiraling state of health and the helplessness Morris says he feels are found in similar situations across Arkansas, where Covid cases are on the rise, and the country, where young people are still being diagnosed with coronavirus and require hospitalization, even when they are old enough to be vaccinated.
Immunization rates for children ages 12 to 17 are lagging in the South, including Arkansas, according to an NBC News analysis, and public health officials say the inability to get more vaccinated Children highlights the continuing reluctance of families to take vaccines at a time when highly transmissible variants are making inroads.
“It’s very hard not to know if she’s really going to come home or not,” Morris told a CBS affiliate in Little Rock from her daughter’s hospital room. “It’s heartbreaking. I wish I had made better choices for her.”
Morris could not be immediately reached for comment on Friday.
Arkansas Children’s Hospital told NBC News it currently has 10 patients who test positive for Covid at its Little Rock facility and two ventilators needed to help them breathe.
So far this month, all of the children who had tested positive for Covid and who have since been released have not been vaccinated, although some may be vaccinated, said Marcy Doderer, Arkansas chief executive officer. Children’s Hospital.
She said the hospital expects to see more children admitted due to the rapid increase in the highly contagious delta variant. While emergency clearance for Covid vaccines in children under 12 could come in early to mid-winter, a federal official said on Thursday that vaccines remain available only to people 12 and under. more, and public health officials are waiting to see what the infection rates will look like once in. no one resumes school in the fall.
Related:
Covid vaccines have been shown to significantly reduce infections and minimize the risk of serious consequences of illness, including hospitalization and death.
“Vaccinating eligible tweens, teens and adults as quickly as possible is the best way to protect children in Arkansas from the delta variant of Covid-19,” Doderer said in a statement.
Arkansas’ overall vaccination rates are among the lowest in the country, at 35%, and the state over the past week has had one of the highest numbers of Covid infections per 100,000 population, due to the delta variant.
Morris said she regretted not having vaccinated her daughter against Covid when she had the chance.
“I just had a false sense of security that it was like the flu and it wasn’t that bad,” she said. “Obviously it’s so bad and it was so bad. Now I can see.”
It is not known if Morris herself has since been vaccinated, but she no longer seemed skeptical.
“I just want people to get their kids vaccinated,” she told the local TV station as her daughter lay on a hospital bed with tubes snaking around her. “Everyone just needs to get shot.”
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