Enlarge / Boston Medical Middle Baby Life Specialist Karlie Bittrich sees to a child whereas in a pediatrics tent arrange outdoors of Boston Medical Middle in Boston on April 29, 2020. (credit score: Getty | Boston Globe)
A committee of specialists advising the Meals and Drug Administration voiced unanimous assist Wednesday for the authorization of two COVID-19 vaccines for youngsters underneath the age of 5. If the FDA authorizes the vaccines, it should mark the primary time throughout the greater than two-year pandemic that vaccines in opposition to COVID-19 can be obtainable for this age group—the final group but to be eligible for vaccination.
Though kids on this younger age group have a comparatively decrease danger of extreme illness and dying from COVID-19 in contrast with older teams, they’ll and do turn into severely sick and die from the an infection. As of final month, 45,000 kids underneath 5 have been hospitalized for COVID-19 throughout the pandemic; roughly 50 p.c of these hospitalizations occurred throughout the omicron wave. Of the youngsters who land within the hospital, about 63 p.c haven’t any underlying medical situations that put them at larger danger of extreme COVID-19. And a couple of quarter of these hospitalized require intensive care.
To this point, 475 kids underneath the age of 5 have died from COVID-19 throughout the pandemic, making COVID-19 far deadlier than different illnesses we routinely vaccinate younger kids in opposition to, together with influenza, measles, chickenpox, hepatitis A, and rotavirus.
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