Lower Vaccination Rates: States Report Rapid Rise Of Cases In Children

Nikki Attkisson | Last Updated : September 7, 2021

According to a new study from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, states having lower vaccination rates have reported more hospitalizations and emergency rooms among kids.

Recent reports have indicated that children’s hospitals are filling up quickly around the Covid-19 hotspots around the country. However, death is rare among children than in adults and they are much spared by the worst of the Covid-19.

Lower Vaccination Rates: States Report Rapid Rise Of Cases In Children

Hospitalizations and emergency department visits for children increased from June to August of this year, according to research released in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Report on Friday.

Lower Vaccination Rates: States Report Rapid Rise Of Cases In Children

The vaccination rates in the southern states are the lowest in the country. Emergency room visits have increased 3.4 times in the states with lower vaccination rates and hospitalizations have increased in the states with higher vaccination rates from the mid to late August period.

The CDC team has mentioned in the research article that to protect communities from SARS-CoV-2 infection, the most important component is widespread vaccination of all eligible persons.

The second report of the CDC has found that the number of children hospitalized during the Delta variant is quite similar to the proportions when the pandemic was started.

In the United States, hospitalization has increased at the rate of five-fold among children and teenagers from late June to mid-August which is coinciding with the situation when the Delta variant was spread at higher rates in the country.

The kids up to aged 4 and children between 12-17 years have been hospitalized the highest. On the other hand, the hospitalization rate is ten times higher among unvaccinated teenagers than vaccinated ones.

Four out of one child needed intensive care during hospitalization.

The study revealed the data from the kids that were hospitalized and does not show the kids that were hospitalized later, either because of the Delta variant or exposure to the disease in the community. It is also added in the study that before and during the period when the Delta variant was at its peak, the hospitalized children and adolescents were almost similar.

On Thursday during the White House Covid-19 briefing, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, CDC Director, has highlighted from the studies that the Delta variant is not severely affecting children. However, the number of cases has increased among children, but the disease severity has not increased. The reason for the higher number of cases in children is because the disease is spread more in the community. She also added that according to the data, community-level vaccination protects children. With the widespread increase in the cases of Covid-19, children are more prone to getting sick and getting hospitalized and in emergency rooms.

Researchers of the CDC also wrote that reducing the transmission of Covid-19 and severity in children and teenagers can only be met by taking preventive measures. These include vaccination, universal masking in schools, and masking of persons aged 2 and above in child care centers and indoor spaces.


Nikki Attkisson

With over 15 years as a practicing journalist, Nikki Attkisson found herself at Powdersville Post now after working at several other publications. She is an award-winning journalist with an entrepreneurial spirit and worked as a journalist covering technology, innovation, environmental issues, politics, health etc. Nikki Attkisson has also worked on product development, content strategy, and editorial management for numerous media companies. She began her career at local news stations and worked as a reporter in national newspapers.

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