An epidemiologist is warning more focus needs to be placed on children as part of the country’s pandemic plan.
Unvaccinated infants and children are now the ones increasingly becoming infected all across the world.
In America, hospitalisation rates for kids are on the rise.
Chief Medical Officer of Wolfson Children’s Hospital of Baptist Health Dr Jerry Bridgham said they’re seeing a 300 to 400 increase in Covid-infected kids.
“It also reflects the fact that the kids are sicker because we have a higher percentage of our Covid-positive patients who need ICU beds as well.”
The trend is different to last year, where children were much less affected by Covid-19, but it’s unclear if Delta is more dangerous to them.
Medsafe has given the green light for the children aged 12 to 15 to get the vaccine here, but the government’s been dragging their feet
Epidemiologist Amanda Kvalsvig says they need to start acting on it soon.
“We have enough evidence now to act. Children have been left out of pandemic policy decisions in this country and that needs to change right away,” she told 1 NEWS.
But as for those under 12, studies are still in the process of being carried out.
The spike in illness among the young serves as a reminder that even those deemed low risk are susceptible to the virus.
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