US has highest number of children hospitalized with coronavirus so far

United States has 1,450 hospitalized children for the coronavirus, the highest number to date of the pandemic, warned this Sunday the director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH, in English), Francis Collins.

In an interview with the program “This week” from ABC News, Collins estimated that the country He should never have gotten to the point where he is, with a resurgence of coronavirus cases caused by the delta variant.

“We have vaccines that we know are very effective and safe and yet half of the country is still not fully immunized“, complained the manager.

Collins noted that the United States pays “a terrible price”, given the rapid increase in cases, especially in unvaccinated people.

“Almost all deaths are due to unvaccinated people. And now, they are young people, including children, ”he warned.

“The largest number of children to date in the entire pandemic – he said – are currently in hospital, 1,450 children in hospital for covid-19.” Many of them, being less than 12 years old, they were not vaccinated.

“But the rest of us over 12 we could have done a better job “, he condemned.

The Delta variant

Although he indicated that they did not have “hard data” indicating that the Delta was more serious for children, he admitted that he was listening to the pediatricians worry because in this new peak of contagion of the disease “the children who are in the hospital are more numerous and are more seriously ill”.

Asked about the next school year, he asked parents to think of masks as a “life-saving medical device” and not as a “political declaration or an attack on their freedoms”, and felt that its use will prevent outbreaks that force a return to distance learning.

American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten said in space “Meet the press”, from NBC News, that 90% of the teachers who make up this union have been vaccinated and admitted that they are considering reconsidering their policy last October on voluntary vaccination of their members.

“I believe that the circumstances have changed and that vaccination is a community responsibility“, He stressed and admitted that it” weighs a lot “for him that children under 12 can not yet be vaccinated.

Admitted that they exist “Significant religious objections and exemptions” and medical, so it was important to keep them in mind when developing its vaccine policy, citing as an example President Joe Biden’s decision that people can choose to inject or get tested regularly.

“I believe that the combination of vaccines and masks will protect our children smaller, ”he said, although he stressed that for this it is also important to work with parents.

In the same program, senior U.S. government epidemiologist Anthony Fauci reiterated that there will be no federal mandate to require vaccination against covid.

However, he estimated that if the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) fully approves the vaccines that are now cleared for emergency use – something he says could happen “in the weeks to come. “- many companies and private entities could advertise vaccination warrants.

Source: EFE

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