ATLANTA — Kids are being hospitalized with COVID-19 at the highest rate since the pandemic began, particularly babies and children under 5 who do not yet qualify for the vaccine.
According to a new warning from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, parents should be doubling down on precautions.
“The majority of kids who are in the hospital due to COVID are unvaccinated overwhelmingly," said Dr. Ramona Ataya-Dakour, a pediatrician in Texas.
Last week in Georgia there were 4,290 cases confirmed among kids younger than 5. That's a new record and a 23% increase over the previous week.
“Unfortunately a majority of my patients are under 5," Ataya-Dakour said.
A vaccine for the age group doesn't look like it will be available anytime soon.
Moderna echoed last week what Pfizer recently told Americans – that its vaccine trials for kids younger than 5 are being extended.
The goalpost is now moving back to April at the earliest.
Kids older than 5 are also being hospitalized at record rates. The majority of vaccine-eligible kids in Georgia still haven't gotten their shots, data shows.
As of mid-January, only 16% of kids between 5 and 9 years old and 35% of those 10 to14 have received at least one dose.
The CDC is asking parents to make those vaccine appointments, saying they anticipate pediatric cases to continue rising in the coming weeks.