NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / World

Covid 19 Omicron US: Hospitalisations of children too young for vaccine soar

AP
8 Jan, 2022 03:00 AM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

US President Joe Biden says that the unvaccinated are responsible for their own choices as Omicron cases rise ahead of the holidays. Video / AP

Hospitalisations of US children under 5 with Covid-19 soared in recent weeks to their highest level since the pandemic began, according to government data released on Friday on the only age group not yet eligible for the vaccine.

The worrisome trend in children too young to be vaccinated underscored the need for older kids and adults to get their shots to help protect those around them, said Dr Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Since mid-December, with the highly contagious Omicron variant spreading furiously around the country, the hospitalisation rate in these youngest kids has surged to more than 4 in 100,000 children, up from 2.5 per 100,000.

The rate among children ages 5 to 17 is about 1 per 100,000, according to the CDC data, which is drawn from more than 250 hospitals in 14 states.

Overall, "paediatric hospitalisations are at their highest rate compared to any prior point in the pandemic," Walensky said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The overall hospitalisation rate among children and teens under 18 is still lower than that of any other age group. And they account for less than 5 per cent of average new daily hospital admissions, according to the CDC.

As of Tuesday, the average number of under-18 patients admitted to the hospital per day with Covid-19 was 766, double the figure reported just two weeks ago.

The trend among the very youngest kids is being driven by high hospitalisation rates in five states: Georgia, Connecticut, Tennessee, California and Oregon, with the steepest increases in Georgia, the CDC said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
A nurse practitioner collects a nasal swab sample from a child at Families Together of Orange County community health centre in Tustin. Photo / AP
A nurse practitioner collects a nasal swab sample from a child at Families Together of Orange County community health centre in Tustin. Photo / AP

At a briefing, Walensky said the numbers include children hospitalised because of Covid-19 and those admitted for other reasons but found to be infected.

The CDC also said the surge could be partially attributable to how Covid-19 hospitalisations in this age group are defined: a positive virus test within 14 days of hospitalisation for any reason.

The severity of illness among children during the Omicron wave seems lower than it was with the Delta variant, said Seattle Children's Hospital critical care chief Dr John McGuire.

"Most of the Covid+ kids in the hospital are actually not here for Covid-19 disease," McGuire said in an email. "They are here for other issues but happen to have tested positive."

Discover more

Opinion

Worried about long Covid? What life is like with a post-viral illness

07 Jan 07:01 PM
World

US Supreme Court to rule on Joe Biden's vaccine mandates

07 Jan 06:36 AM
Tennis

Novak Djokovic and fellow star vaccine sceptics are increasingly scorned

07 Jan 06:16 AM
New Zealand

Covid: 48-hour wait for official update on new case numbers

07 Jan 11:00 PM

The nation's top infectious-disease expert, Dr Anthony Fauci, said earlier this week that Omicron appears to cause less-severe disease across the board, but that the sheer number of infections because of its extreme contagiousness will mean many more children will get infected, and a certain share of them will wind up in hospital.

Fauci also said many children hospitalised with Covid-19 have other health conditions that make them more susceptible to complications from the virus. That includes obesity, diabetes and lung disease.

Registered nurse Morgan Flynn works inside a patient's room in the Covid-19 Intensive Care Unit at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Centre, in Lebanon. Photo / AP
Registered nurse Morgan Flynn works inside a patient's room in the Covid-19 Intensive Care Unit at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Centre, in Lebanon. Photo / AP

Fauci and Walensky have emphasised one of the best ways to protect the youngest children is to vaccinate everyone else.

The surge in hospitalisations only heightens some parents' worries.

Emily Hojara and Eli Zilke of Sawyer, Michigan, are being extra protective of their daughter Flora, who turns 2 in May. They limit her contact with other children, and no visitors are allowed in the house unless masked, not even grandparents.

"It's been a struggle, and now with this new variant, I feel it's knocked us back," Hojara said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"It's scary that she can't be vaccinated," she said of her daughter.

Dr Jennifer Kusma, a paediatrician with Chicago's Lurie Children's Hospital, said she has seen increasing numbers of kids hospitalised with Omicron, and while most aren't severely ill, she understands parents' worries.

"I really wish we already had that vaccine for these young kids," Kusma said. But she added that what may seem like a long wait should reassure parents that vaccine testing is not being rushed.

Many had hoped the new year might bring a vaccine for young children, but Pfizer announced last month that two doses didn't offer as much protection as hoped for in youngsters 2 to 4.

Pfizer's study has been updated to give everyone under 5 a third dose, and data is expected in early spring.

Also on Friday, the CDC issued a report showing Pfizer shots seem to protect older children who develop a serious but rare Covid-19-linked condition that involves inflammation of multiple organs.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Among 102 kids ages 12 to 18 who were hospitalised with the condition, none who had received two Pfizer shots at least 28 days earlier needed ventilators or other advanced life support. By contrast, 40 per cent of unvaccinated children required such treatment.

The condition, multisystem inflammatory syndrome, causes symptoms that may include persistent fever, abdominal pain and rashes. Most children recover, but 55 deaths have been reported.

A separate CDC report found that children who had Covid-19 were more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with diabetes as youngsters who had not had the virus. Scientists are investigating why but say the virus seems to attack insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.

Covid
Save

    Share this article

Latest from World

World

'Extraordinary intrusion': Tension mounts over Trump's troop control in LA

17 Jun 11:46 PM
World

Pope Leo is related to Madonna

17 Jun 11:36 PM
Premium
World

Israelis reeling from Iranian barrages brace for a new kind of war

17 Jun 11:27 PM

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from World

'Extraordinary intrusion': Tension mounts over Trump's troop control in LA

'Extraordinary intrusion': Tension mounts over Trump's troop control in LA

17 Jun 11:46 PM

The mayor lifted LA's nighttime curfew as calm returned on Tuesday.

Pope Leo is related to Madonna

Pope Leo is related to Madonna

17 Jun 11:36 PM
Premium
Israelis reeling from Iranian barrages brace for a new kind of war

Israelis reeling from Iranian barrages brace for a new kind of war

17 Jun 11:27 PM
Mum found stabbed co-founded charity for victims of domestic violence

Mum found stabbed co-founded charity for victims of domestic violence

17 Jun 11:11 PM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP