A rise in adolescent hospitalization rates is a reminder that children can suffer from the virus too, expert says

A recent increase in Covid-19 hospitalizations among adolescents reinforces the importance of getting vaccinated and practicing prevention measures against the virus, according to a study released Friday.

The report looked at hospitalization data for 12-to-17-year-olds from a large coronavirus surveillance network and found 204 adolescents who were likely hospitalized primarily for Covid-19 between January 1 and March 31, 2021. Nearly a third were admitted to intensive care units and roughly 4.9% required invasive mechanical ventilation. There were no associated deaths.

The study was published in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Aiden Arthurs receives the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 Vaccine from Pharmacist Andrew Mac (R) at the Jewish Federation/JARC's offices in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, on May 13, 2021. - The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on May 10, 2021 authorized the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for children aged 12 to 15 years old. (Photo by JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP) (Photo by JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images)

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The findings are a reminder that even children can suffer from the virus, one expert said Friday.

“It tells you children can still suffer and be hospitalized by this virus,” Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said Friday.

“We had this notion, initially, that this was just a disease of older people. It’s not true. This virus can also hurt children,” he added.

What the study shows

Hospitalization rates among young people between March 1, 2020, and April 24, 2021, peaked in the week ending January 9, 2021, at 2.1 per 100,000, then dropped to 0.6 in the week ending March 13. Rates then rose again to 1.3 and 1.2, respectively, for the weeks ending April 17 and April 24.

The trend contrasts with hospitalization rates among people age 65 and older, the group with the highest Covid-19 vaccination coverage. During that period, hospitalization rates stabilized for that older age group.

Hospitalization rates for adolescents were lower than rates among adults but exceeded those among children ages 5 to 11.?The recent increase in hospitalization rates among people ages 12 to 17 might be related to more transmissible coronavirus variants, large numbers of children returning to school and other indoor activities, and changes in physical distancing, mask-wearing, and other prevention behaviors, researchers wrote.

Pfizer’s vaccine was authorized for use in people as young as 12 in May.

During a White House Covid-19 briefing Thursday, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky urged parents to get their teens vaccinated.

“In the month leading up to the recommendations of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for teens and adolescents 12 and older, CDC observed troubling data regarding the hospitalizations of adolescents with Covid-19,” Walensky said. “More concerning were the number of adolescents admitted to the hospital who required treatment in the intensive care unit with mechanical ventilation.”

The data should “force us to redouble our motivation” to get adolescents and young adults vaccinated, she said, and recommended young people continue to wear masks and take precautions to protect themselves and others until they are fully vaccinated.

Vaccine advisers to the Food and Drug Administration are also set to meet next week to discuss the parameters for authorizing Covid-19 vaccines for children 11 and younger, Offit told CNN.

“What I think we’re going to do with that meeting is we’re going to decide what the parameters are for approval – either through emergency use authorization or for licensure – for much younger age groups,” Offit said.

A big challenge remains

With a slowed vaccination pace across the country, the big challenge for US officials continues to be reaching people who are not eager to get the vaccine.

It’s a “tragedy” that Americans won’t take advantage of vaccine doses that others around the world desperately need, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Friday.

“One of the real ironic things (is) that we have people in the rest of the world – in India, in South America, in Southern Africa – who are pleading for vaccines, because they don’t have enough doses,” Fauci said at an event hosted by US Health and Human Services.

The US currently has more Covid-19 vaccine doses than it needs, Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said.

“What a shame and a tragedy that we don’t make use of something that is for our benefit, when others throughout the world would do anything to have what we have,” he added.

Some states are ‘sitting ducks’ for an outbreak

The US is pushing to have 70% of adults get at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine by July 4, but an expert said that number is important to reach at the state level too – and those states who are falling well below may be vulnerable to another outbreak.

“There are 12 states that are already at 70%. I worry about the ones that are way below that, and they are sitting ducks for the next outbreak of Covid-19 – which shouldn’t have to happen now,” National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins told CNN’s Chris Cuomo.

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Sixty-three percent of adults have received at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose, according to data published Thursday by the CDC.

But President Joe Biden’s goal of 70% of adults having at least one vaccine dose has met a significant obstacle – a dwindling number of people who want to get vaccinated.

The seven-day average of newly administered doses earlier this week was reported to have fallen below 1 million per day for the first time since January, according to data from the CDC. The average has since rebounded, the agency said Friday.

About 1.4 million new doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been reported administered since Thursday, boosting the seven-day average of doses administered back to just over 1 million doses per day.

Walensky said Thursday that there is no magic target for herd immunity, but that she thinks getting to 70% would go a long way toward protecting the community.

“We have pockets of this country that have lower rates of vaccination,” Walensky said. “I worry that this virus is an opportunist and that where we have low rates of vaccination are where we may see it again. And so really the issue now is to make sure we get to those communities as well.”

Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Wyoming are among the states with the lowest vaccination rates.

And for those who feel they don’t need the protection of the vaccine, Collins said to think of getting doses as a “donation” to those in communities who – for reasons like chemotherapy and organ transplants – aren’t necessarily protected against Covid-19 by vaccinations.

A deserted walk-in Covid-19 mass vaccination site at the Convention Center in Washington, D.C., on May 1, 2021.

Cash prizes and nightlife vaccinations to get through the ‘slog-phase’

“We’re making a lot of progress, but frankly, we’re entering kind of the slog-phase of the vaccination campaign, where the people who are most eager to have it and most able to get it, have gotten it,” former CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.

WHEATON, MARYLAND - MAY 21: Maryland National Guard Specialist James Truong (L) administers a Moderna coronavirus vaccine at CASA de Maryland's Wheaton Welcome Center on May 21, 2021 in Wheaton, Maryland. The mobile vaccination clinic was staffed with members of the Maryland National Guard and part of the Maryland Vaccine Equity Task Force, which works with local health departments and community organizations to focus COVID-19 vaccination efforts on "underserved, vulnerable, and hard-to-reach populations." (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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“Now we need to continue to make it easier to get and to address people’s concerns,” he said, adding that the vaccine is “astonishingly effective and very, very safe.”

In an effort to increase convenience for younger residents, New York City officials will park mobile vaccine buses outside popular nightlife destinations, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday.

In addition to access and education improvement, more companies and officials are offering incentives to sign up for inoculation.

Kroger Health announced that it is launching a $5 million #CommunityImmunity giveaway to motivate more people to get the vaccine.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 31: People with and without masks walk on a crowded boardwalk at Coney Island on Memorial Day in the Brooklyn Borough of New York on May 31, 2021 in New York City. On May 19, coronavirus pandemic restrictions were lifted making Memorial Day the first holiday weekend without any restrictions in over 15 months. Much of the three-day holiday weekend was rained out with temperatures dropping to the 50s and 60s. (Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

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Between June 3 and July 10, Kroger Health will give $1 million to a winner each week for five weeks as well as 50 “groceries for a year” prizes, a release from the company said.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced the “Shots of a Lifetime” giveaway series to incentivize vaccinations in the state.

Awards will include cash prizes totaling $2 million, tuition and expense assistance for higher education, sports tickets and gear, gift cards, airline tickets as well as game systems and smart speakers, he said.

“We’re making this investment today because we know every life in the state of Washington has value,” said Inslee. “I’m excited to announce these strong incentives that will bring the potential to save thousands of lives.”

CNN’s Jacqueline Howard, Jessica Jordan, Laura Ly, Lauren Mascarenhas, Raja Razek, Kelsie Smith and Naomi Thomas contributed to this report.