Almost three months ago, the FDA recommended the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for one of the most vulnerable groups in the nation: children ages 5-11.
“You do not want to get this version of the virus,” said Dr. Clay Dunagan said.
The CDC announced they recommend moderately or severely immunocompromised 5–11-year-olds receive an additional primary dose of vaccine 28 days after their second shot. At this time, only the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is authorized and recommended for children aged 5-11, according to their website.
“Following the FDA’s authorizations, today’s recommendations ensure people are able to get a boost of protection in the face of Omicron and increasing cases across the country and ensure that the most vulnerable children can get an additional dose to optimize protection against COVID-19. If you or your children are eligible for a third dose or a booster, please go out and get one as soon as you can. Additionally, FDA acted this week to authorize boosters for 12–15-year-olds,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said.
Healthcare providers in the St. Louis area have acted quickly since the CDC made the vaccination eligible for children in that age range.
According to the Kaiser Health Foundation, 13.1% of Missouri children have received two doses of the vaccine, and 20% of children have received at least one dose.
IPediatricians said the slow pace and geographic disparities are alarming, especially against the backdrop of record numbers of cases and pediatric hospitalizations, according to the Kaiser Health Foundation.
During a recent St. Louis Pandemic Task Force virtual briefing, hospitalizations at local healthcare providers have spiked up 194 daily COVID-19 hospital admissions.
“In the past week, we have set several records, including 194 admissions, and these admissions continue to fill up our hospitals faster than we can keep up,” SSM Health Chief Community Officer Dr. Alex Garza said.
Currently, more than 1,300 people have been hospitalized for COVID-19 and more than 130 individuals are using ventilators, according to the St. Louis Pandemic Task Force.
“What we do know is that even if [the Omicron variant] is a little less virulent than delta and the others, omicron is still a nasty bug and can be incredibly serious,” Dr. Clay Dunagan said.
According to Dunagan, in just a few weeks, omicron has caused more infections than any of the previous variants and has caused a record number of people hospitalized in cities across the country.
“You do not want to get this version of the virus,” he said. “Omicron is filling the hospital beds and making it hard for hospital workers to care for people.”
Additionally, 46 children between the ages of 0-18 have been hospitalized due to COVID-19, according to data from the St. Louis Pandemic Task Force.
Dr. Rachel Charney, a pediatric ER physician at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital, talked about what she sees in the hospital.
“Similar to what we’re seeing with the adults in our community, we’re seeing a lot of children coming to our hospital both to the ERs and urgent cares as well as being admitted in volumes that are higher than we have seen in other waves of COVID,” Charney said.
Dr. Jason Newland, Washington University Infectious Disease physician at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, said he is seeing the same things Charney described at his hospital.
“I think some of the things that we have forgotten is that one child can have a mild symptom and get over it, and we have heard that children aren’t that affected by it, but we definitely know there are other complications [with COVID-19],” Newland said.
According to Newland, multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children is a severe illness that occurs in normal healthy children who get COVID-19 about four to six weeks later.
Dr. Kendra Holmes, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Affinia Healthcare, said the federally qualified health centers (FQHC) have seen an uptick in pediatric COVID-19 vaccines.
“We have been conducting a lot of tests like it’s 2020 again,” Holmes said. “After October, our numbers have just skyrocketed due to the omicron variant and so many people needing tests and vaccines, so it has been nonstop.”
She added there has been an increase in COVID-19 tests.
“We’re very excited to see that we’re getting a lot of minority parents, particularly Black parents, that are getting their children vaccinated, so that has been a very positive outcome and I think with omicron, people are really nervous because so many people are getting it since it is highly contagious, but we are definitely seeing an increase in the number of pediatric vaccinations,” she said.
