Higher Covid-19 Vaccination Rates Could Prevent Thousands of Pediatric Hospitalizations and Missed School Days
A recent analysis published by the Commonwealth Fund and the Yale School of Public Health has revealed that higher Covid-19 vaccination rates among US children could prevent thousands of pediatric hospitalizations and millions of missed school days.
Source: media.cnn.com
The analysis found that if school-age children were vaccinated with the updated Covid-19 booster shot at the same rate that they were vaccinated against flu last season – between 50% and 60% coverage – at least 38,000 pediatric hospitalizations could be averted, including about 9,000 stays in intensive care units, through March. Additionally, if Covid-19 booster coverage reached 80% among school-age children by the end of the year, more than 50,000 hospitalizations could be averted.
The study’s authors emphasized that preventing Covid-19 hospitalizations could help ease the strain on pediatric hospitals, which have been especially full for the past few weeks due to the ongoing respiratory virus season. Currently, fewer than 1 in 4 pediatric hospital beds is available nationwide, including fewer than 10% of beds in seven states, according to data from the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Dr. Moira Szilagyi, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, highlighted the dire situation, stating, ‘The overwhelmed health system means some families may not be able to get the care their child requires for a medical emergency. This is a crisis.’
Despite the lower transmission rates of Covid-19, with less than 5% of the US population living in a county considered to have a high Covid-19 community level, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 2,400 children were admitted to the hospital with Covid-19 last week – nearly three times higher than the week before, CDC data shows.
The analysis also found that higher vaccination rates could help keep kids in school, a benefit that other research has found could have important effects on mental health and academic achievement. Assuming a five-day isolation period for children with mild illness and 10 days for those who are hospitalized or otherwise severely ill, bringing Covid-19 booster uptake in line with flu shots for children could prevent more than 22 million days of school absenteeism.
However, the study’s authors noted that the scenarios presented in the analysis are quite unrealistic, given the current low uptake of the updated Covid-19 booster shot among school-age children. According to CDC data, less than 5% of school-age children have received the updated booster shot.
A record number of updated Covid-19 boosters were administered in the first week of November, and US officials are planning to push for people to get boosted against Covid-19 in order to offer maximum protection around Thanksgiving. Nevertheless, the overall uptake remains low, and to reach 50% coverage by the end of the year, the pace of vaccination would have to be at least 10 times faster than it’s been in November.
Covid-19 vaccination rates among children have long lagged behind those for adults, with just 32% of children ages 5 to 11 and 61% of those ages 12 to 17 having completed their initial series of Covid-19 vaccination, compared with 78% of adults.
The study’s authors emphasized the importance of accelerated vaccination campaigns, stating, ‘Accelerated vaccination campaigns that achieve high coverage across all ages have the potential to prevent a possible imminent surge in Covid-19, protecting children both directly and indirectly and providing them with additional stability in terms of school attendance and other social engagement.’
The cost of inaction could be steep: millions more days of school absenteeism and thousands of preventable hospitalizations for children.
The researchers did not factor in the possibility of a new immune-evasive coronavirus variant but did account for both naturally acquired and vaccine-induced immunity that would wane over time.
