Here's a look at the latest COVID-19 data as it relates to children.
Reported cases of COVID-19 in children
Total reported COVID-19 cases for children since the start of the pandemic have reached nearly 15.5 million cases and children represent 18% of all COVID-19 cases in the United States. (Source: AAP/CHA)
There have been over 185,829 pediatric hospital admissions (ages 0-17) with COVID-19 since August 2020. (Source: CDC)
Beginning the week of Feb. 22, there have been 882 new hospital admissions of children for COVID-19. Hospitalization rates have been decreasing over the past month. CDC data suggests the percent change in new pediatric hospital admissions from the previous week is -3%.
Nearly 18,959 cases of COVID-19 were reported in children Feb. 23 through March 2, and children represented 11.3% of the weekly reported COVID-19 cases. (Source: AAP/CHA)
COVID-19 pediatric vaccination data
As of March, 2 million children ages 6 months to 4 years, 11.1 million children ages 5-11 and 17.9 million children ages 12-17 have received at least one vaccination dose, while 9.2 million children ages 5-11 and 15.3 million children ages 12-17 are fully vaccinated. (Source: AAP analysis of CDC data) View the chart.
A study conducted July-October 2021 stated over 95% of vaccine-eligible children hospitalized with COVID-19 had not been fully vaccinated. Similarly, 99% of COVID-19 patients receiving life support while in the hospital had not been fully vaccinated.
For the week ending Dec. 17, Omicron variants were estimated to be over 99.9% of COVID-19 cases. It took less than nine weeks for Omicron to become the dominant variant in the U.S. The Omicron BA.5 is currently the dominant subvariant with 38% of COVID-19 cases. (Source: CDC)
The Respiratory Virus Hospitalization Surveillance Network (RESP-NET) combines tools that collect surveillance for hospitalizations associated with COVID-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Based on most recent data, combined hospitalization rates are estimated to be 8.0 per 100,000 for age 0-4 and 0.9 per 100,000 for age 5-17. Rates have been decreasing over the last month. (Source: CDC)
Are kids in the hospital now sicker than before?
Based on current data, we can’t answer this question. It is clear that the new variants are more contagious, and more kids are contracting COVID-19. However, it is not clear if the variants are more severe for kids.
