The number of children who have been vaccinated for COVID-19 in the United States remains dismal, even after two months since the Pfizer vaccine was authorised for ages 5 to 11. 

Just 27% of the kids have received their first dose, according to data updated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on January 12. Only 18%, or 5 million, have been administered both their vaccine shots. 

While children remained largely unaffected during the initial waves of the pandemic, the recent spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant of the virus has led to record infections and hospitalisations among the segment. 

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For instance, over 900 daily hospitalisations were reported among children this month, the highest ever, as compared to a peak of 342 in September 2021. 

Further, the first week of January 2022 saw Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston saw12 babies in intensive care with Covid-19. 

Experts believe vaccine misinformation floating online has played a part in the low vaccination rates among children. 

Physician Wassim Ballan of Phoenix Children’s Hospital, said, “Unfortunately, a lot of times when we’re having this time with a family to discuss these things is when the child is already in hospital.”

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Parents need to understand that the vaccines are “the most important tool for protection,” especially to avoid multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, a rare and dangerous complication that can follow a mild Covid-19 infection, he said, reported news agency AFP. 

“One of the problems we’ve had is this perception that kids aren’t at risk for serious illness from this virus,” Dr Yvonne Maldonado, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases, told Kaiser Health News. “That’s obviously not true.”

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Protection of infants is also compromised by vaccine hesitancy among pregnant people. Preliminary research has shownn that vaccination during pregnancy leads to antibodies safely being transferred to the baby, offering limited protection.

 Kathryn Gray, attending physician of maternal-fetal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, said, “If they truly want to protect their infants, getting vaccinated is the thing that will protect them the most at this time,” reported AFP.