NIH Director Says “Children Are Very At Risk” Amid Delta Spread

With children under 12 still unable to be vaccinated, National Institutes of Health Director Dr Francis Collins warns the worst of the pandemic is yet to come and children are particularly vulnerable.

As COVID-19 cases continue to rise nationwide in large part due to the highly infectious Delta variant, health experts and public officials fear the back-to-school season – which will bring together the students from across the country for in-person lessons – poses a serious threat to students, especially those under 12, who have not yet been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Given that several states have ditched mask warrants and social distancing measures, it’s clear why parents and health experts are concerned about those not yet protected by the vaccine. Dr Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, appeared on Fox News Sunday yesterday to highlight how serious the risk is for those not yet fully vaccinated, warning that those 90 million Americans are “ducks sitting for this virus” right now.

As the United States sees a record peak in daily cases (at a current average of 120,000 over seven days), Collins told Fox News presenter Chris Wallace that he expects us to hit 200,000 cases. per day in a few weeks. “It goes up really quickly with no sign of peaking… and it’s heartbreaking considering we never thought we would be back in this space. It was January, February. [before vaccines were widely available to Americans]. It shouldn’t be August.

“Here we are with the Delta variant, which is so contagious, and this heartbreaking situation where 90 million people are still unvaccinated who are ducks sitting for this virus, and that’s the mess we’re in,” said Collins. “We are in a world of pain, and this is a critical time to try to do all we can to turn the tide.”

Collins also avoided the widespread belief that the virus does not pose a threat to children, citing the increase in pediatric cases and hospitalizations in recent weeks, with 121,427 cases of COVID-19 children reported the week of August 5. , according to the American Academy. pediatrics – and that’s before most kids start the new school year.

“I’ll be surprised if we don’t see 200,000 cases per day over the next two weeks.” – @NIH Director makes a serious prediction for the United States #FoxNewsSunday

– FoxNewsSunday (@FoxNewsSunday) August 15, 2021

“Right now we have almost 2,000 children in the hospital, many in intensive care units, some of them under the age of four,” Collins said. “So whoever tries to tell you, ‘Well don’t worry about the kids the virus won’t really bother them,’ that’s not the proof,” Collins said. “And especially with Delta being so contagious, kids are very at risk, and it’s up to all of us to do everything we can to protect them as well as we try to protect everyone at the same time.”

Collins said the use of the mask may be more important than ever, especially as the children return to class. “Schools that have started to open without a mask requirement, epidemics are occurring,” he said. “And what happens then? Children are sent home for virtual learning, which we were trying to avoid. It is truly unfortunate that politics and polarization have stood in the way of a simple public health measure. This mask that I’m holding has kind of become a symbol that it shouldn’t have been.

Protecting those most vulnerable to the effects of COVID-19 is as crucial as ever, which is why getting vaccinated as soon as you are eligible and continuing to wear a mask isn’t just a call to action, it’s a call to arms – and it is a fight we must all face head on.