Vaccination for Children in NYC Low Amid 6th Wave – NBC New York (47)

The rush for COVID-19 vaccines for under-5s in New York City has not been as strong as expected, with health officials reporting that approximately 11,000 vaccines have been given to this age group since the CDC approved the doses two weeks ago.

Federal officials finally gave the go-ahead on June 18 so that younger children, ages 6 months to 5 years, could get vaccinated against COVID-19. This more than two years after the pandemic hit the world.

Experts have long expected vaccine rollout for children under five to start slowly, especially compared to what was seen in older age groups. That has happened so far in New York City, where a fraction of the estimated half-million children who now qualify have been vaccinated.

Ten city-run clinics have received the shots, where health officials say nearly half of the 11,007 infants and toddlers received their shots.

All five New York City boroughs are again in the CDC’s category of high risk for community spread of COVID as of the agency’s Friday update.

Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Staten Island had been in the CDC’s high-risk category through the second half of May and moved to medium risk through June as viral rates and hospital admissions associated with that wave declined. . The relief was short-lived, however, as all five boroughs are now in a heightened-risk state.

That means wearing masks indoors and in public places, regardless of vaccination status, is recommended again. It comes as some neighborhoods in Manhattan and Queens are seeing 25% positivity rates (again). City health officials renewed their indoor mask advisory Friday in light of updated COVID data.

And as in previous waves, the problem is hardly relegated to New York City.

As of Friday, more than a fifth of all counties in the US (667 total) are designated as high risk for community spread by the CDC, an increase of 70% in the last two weeks alone. In New York, Westchester County joined the five boroughs in returning to high risk, while Suffolk County was downgraded to medium after just one week at elevated risk.

What’s behind the latest wave? It doesn’t seem to be much of a mystery. The COVID BA.5 variant, a descendant of Ómicron that evidence indicates is more transmissible than previous strains, also appears to be at least four times more resistant to vaccines, according to a new Columbia University study published this week.

BA.5, which accounted for more than 40% of all New York State COVID-positive samples sequenced for variants in the latest two-week data set (and 45% of all New York City samples tested , according to that Department of Health), and BA. 4, were at least 4.2 times more vaccine evasive than its predecessor, according to research from Columbia University.

He notes that the BA.2.12.1 subvariant, which drove the increase in cases and hospitalizations in May that sent 87% of all New York State counties into the CDC’s COVID high-risk territory, turned out to be only 1.8 times more resistant. And only one therapeutic antibody licensed for clinical use retained full potency against those strains, the study says.

Reinfection rates across New York have supported the research findings in recent times. Overall, that risk is rising across the board in the state, with Long Island reporting the highest reinfection rate (7.3 per 100K) over the past week, followed by New York City (6.9 per 100,000), according to the data. latest state.

The two regions represent the most virulent in the state right now, though the rolling rate of new cases per 100,000 New York City residents is slightly higher. Health Department officials are currently reevaluating their COVID alert system as they try to adapt to the changing climate of the pandemic.

Statewide COVID infections and hospitalizations have also increased, as the Columbia research suggests, with the first in each of the last three weeks and the second in the last four. That time frame reflects the increase in BA.4./BA.5.

However, both rates remain overwhelmingly below their January 2022 peaks.

The other three states have also been dealing with the latest wave of COVID. New Jersey, which only had four counties at high risk in the CDC update last week, now has zero at low risk. The CDC considers half a dozen to be high risk, mostly in the southern part of the state, while the rest of New Jersey is shaded yellow on the agency’s map.

Meanwhile, Connecticut is divided. The western part of the state – Fairfield, Litchfield, New Haven and Middlesex counties – are listed as medium risk for the spread of COVID by the CDC, while the four eastern counties were at low risk in Friday’s federal update. .

–