But last fall, as many schools went online or hybrid, it became apparent that while kids were at reduced risk, that risk was real. At least 354 kids have died from COVID-19. Many more thousands have been hospitalized. More than 4,400 have been diagnosed with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), a “rare but serious condition associated with COVID-19,” and many more have been ill, even if they’ve recovered pretty well. Although COVID-19 has been nowhere near the danger that it has posed to adults and the elderly, it’s still been worse than most flu seasons for children.
The Delta variant’s predominance has further complicated the discussion. Last year, one could argue that kids were less likely to get infected than adults, less likely to transmit disease if they did, and less likely to be symptomatic as well. That’s no longer clear. Because Delta is so much more infectious, children seem to be getting sick in larger numbers. Pediatric wards are more crowded, especially in areas of low vaccination, and there’s renewed concern that schools could become centers for outbreaks this fall.
True, all these arguments could be made to get more adults vaccinated, reducing the risk to the young as well as the old, but efforts to do that have stalled across the country. In light of this reality, vaccinating kids would still slow down community transmission.
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