Covid and children: Coronavirus cases in children have increased by almost 240% since July, according to American Academy of Pediatrics

COVID-19 infections have increased “exponentially” among children in the United States since July, according to data released Monday by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

The group reported 243,373 new cases in children over the past week. Although this is a decrease from last week when 251,781 cases were reported, it is an increase of around 240% since early July, when children accounted for 71,726 cases. .

“After declining in early summer, children’s cases have increased exponentially with nearly 500,000 cases in the past two weeks,” the AAP said in a statement.

The latest update comes as schools across the country are in full swing and experts have advised adults to get vaccinated to protect children under 12 who are not eligible for the vaccine.

As of Thursday, nearly 5.3 million children in total have tested positive for COVID-19, the AAP said, and children currently represent 29% of all reported cases nationwide.

Officials debate when children’s vaccines will be ready

As of Monday, 63% of the eligible population in the United States – those 12 and older – is fully vaccinated, according to data from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Experts and health officials aim to immunize the vast majority of the population.

President Joe Biden announced new vaccine requirements last week that were met with praise and criticism. The new requirements include a mandate for companies with more than 100 employees to require vaccination or regular testing for employees.

Parents could have access to vaccines for children by Halloween, according to Dr. Scott Gottlieb, member of the Pfizer board of directors and former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.

He told CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday that Pfizer should have vaccine data for children ages 5 to 11 ready for the FDA by the end of September.

“The FDA says it will be a matter of weeks, not months, to determine whether they will allow vaccines for children between the ages of 5 and 11. I interpret that to be maybe four weeks, maybe six. weeks, ”Gottlieb said. .

However, CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky said on Monday the public health agency was urgently working on a COVID-19 vaccine for young children that it hopes can be ready by the end of the year. ‘year.

In the meantime, the FDA has warned parents not to run to immunize their children until the agency approves.

“Children are not little adults – and issues that can be addressed in pediatric vaccine trials may include the need for different doses or different strength formulations of vaccines already in use for adults,” the FDA said Friday. in a press release.

Children are less likely to die from COVID-19

Children are much less likely than adults to suffer from a serious illness or die from COVID-19. Among states that report hospitalizations by age, children represent 1.6% to 4% of patients hospitalized for COVID-19.

Among states that report deaths by age, children made up no more than 0.27% of deaths. Seven states reported no child deaths. On Sunday, the CDC reported 523 deaths among people under the age of 18 in the United States.

Pre-teens and teens have the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates of any age group.

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