New York reports an increase in hospitalizations of children due to COVID, they ask to vaccinate them – Telemundo New York (47)

Pediatric hospitalizations in New York rose, according to data that state governor Kathy Hochul shared with Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett on Monday.

COVID-19-related child admissions now stand at 184 statewide, 109 of them in New York City.

Two weeks ago, there were 70 in all.

Dr. Mary T. Bassett, who last week tested positive for COVID-19, was at the conference six feet from the governor and wearing a mask, saying that admission to minor hospitals with the virus had quadrupled since Friday. With the most recent data, the rebound is more than five times in the New York area.

Among the 5 to 11-year-olds in the hospitalized group, none were vaccinated, Bassett added. About a quarter of recently hospitalized older children had been vaccinated, he said.

Both vaccination rates are well below the averages for the general New York population, which officials say shows the power of vaccines to prevent serious COVID-related illnesses in all age groups, including the very young. .

“Many people still think that children are not infected with COVID-19. This is not true. Children are infected with COVID-19 and some will be hospitalized. Vaccination coverage is still too low,” Bassett said. “We need to increase vaccinations for children, particularly in the 5 to 11-year-old age group.”

According to the most recent data from the CDC, New York children in that age group, who began meeting immunization requirements on November 3, have a complete inoculation rate of 16.4%. About 27% have at least one dose. The numbers are significantly higher for children ages 12 to 17, 66% and 75.1%, respectively, but they are still not as high as officials would like.

Bassett and Hochul said they were forcefully sharing pediatric hospitalization data Monday in hopes that it will motivate parents to take advantage of the school holidays this week to give their children the first dose if they haven’t already or move on to. the second dose if the required three-week period has elapsed.

“Please do this for them,” Hochul urged the parents. “Using this time to do this is really smart.”

The two officials’ recommendations come after New York State issued an urgent notice to pediatricians on Christmas Eve to ensure their patients are vaccinated after COVID-19 hospitalizations in children quadrupled. in less than three weeks.

The unusual warning, which occurred on Friday night on the eve of a major holiday, came as cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 spike.

However, in the overall high – and still rising – hospitalization count, Hochul said Monday that New Yorkers can take comfort that the numbers are not where they were in April 2020 or even where they were last January. But they are rising.

COVID-19 hospitalizations in New York state overall skyrocketed over the Christmas holidays and surpassed 5,500 for the first time since late February, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Monday, and although daily cases were considerably lower Than the record highs of the past 10 days, a more accurate figure for that front is expected in one day.

As of Monday, hospitalizations statewide stood at 5,526, the highest total since Feb. 23 and an increase of nearly 190% since Nov. 1. That’s still well below the 7,000 New Yorkers who were hospitalized with COVID-19 around this time last year, and the high volume of Omicron infections will likely translate to some more severe cases by default, especially among the unvaccinated, he said. Hochul.

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