US Coronavirus: Hospitalization rates are falling in the US, but these 8 states still have less than 15% of available intensive care beds

“I’m afraid we still have some tough days ahead,” said Dr Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health. “Even though we do pretty well with vaccines, we have to do a lot better because the Delta variant is very good at finding unvaccinated people and infecting them.”

And with children under the age of 12 still not eligible to be vaccinated, many experts are concerned about how children will fare.

While pediatric infections have declined, they remain high. Children under 18 make up 22% of the U.S. population but account for 27% of all cases nationwide, according to data released Monday by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Child deaths are an “embarrassment”

Childhood deaths from a preventable disease like Covid-19 are the motivation for authorizing a vaccine in children, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s senior vaccine official said on Tuesday.

“In this latest wave of Covid-19, especially in the south, there have been thousands of children hospitalized. And, frankly, it’s a shame in a developed country to even have 100 children, like us. ‘have had, die from an infectious disease that is preventable, “said Dr Peter Marks, director of the Center for Biologics Assessment and Research, at a town hall hosted by the Covid-19 Vaccine Education and Equity Project.

“We didn’t have a vaccine to give them, but I would hate to deprive children of their lives because we don’t decide to vaccinate them, even against the relatively low risk,” Marks said.

According to the CDC, 645 children have died from Covid-19 in the United States.

“No parent should have to lose their child to a vaccine-preventable disease if we have a vaccine that can be deployed, that is safe and effective. And we will only allow authorization of something that we do. find it safe and effective, ”Marks said. noted.

Marks said he was unsure whether clearance for a vaccine in children aged 5 to 11 would come following a meeting of the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biologics Advisory Committee scheduled for Oct. 14-15, but he said the FDA would work quickly to go through the necessary data when it becomes available.

“A lot of us people who work at the FDA have young children or grandchildren. And this is clearly one of the most important issues to be addressed, so we’re not going to waste any time.” , did he declare.

Johnson & Johnson requests authorization of booster dose

As officials prepare to review vaccines for young children, they are also considering allowing a booster dose to increase protection for people who have received the Johnson & Johnson single-shot vaccine.

J&J said on Tuesday it asked the FDA to allow booster shots for its vaccine. According to the CDC, approximately 15 million people in the United States have received an injection of J&J.

The company said it made the request, but left it up to the FDA and CDC to decide who should get the boosters and when.

The FDA Advisory Committee on Vaccines and Related Biologics is scheduled to meet on October 14 and 15 to consider Moderna and Johnson & Johnson’s requests to add booster doses for their Covid-19 vaccines.

Last month, the company released data from three different studies that showed boosting its vaccine at two or six months increased immune protection.

“We announced that the six-month data is a very strong, very strong push, like an incredibly strong push,” said Dr Mathai Mammen, global head of research and development for the vaccines arm of J&J, Janssen. “And those two months is a good boost, and the good two-month boost has been associated with a vaccine efficacy of 94%, at all ages.”