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COVID-19 vaccination rate drops for kids in Minnesota - Minneapolis Star Tribune
Jan 22, 2022 1 min, 37 secs
COVID-19 vaccinations declined in grade school children over the last month, leaving thousands unprotected in Minnesota as the omicron pandemic wave took hold.

Vaccine hesitancy, holiday breaks and appointment hassles reduced first-dose vaccinations in children 5-11 from 7,300 per day in mid-November to 1,200 last week, federal data showed.

has already been put into the history books in terms of the role vaccine will play," said Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, because the omicron wave is peaking and new vaccine recipients won't reach full immunity for five weeks.

Omicron's spread has been stunning, producing fewer severe COVID-19 cases than previous waves but record infections that filled up hospitals and disrupted schools and businesses.

In 2021, weekly infections per 10,000 children 5-11 yo-yoed from 84 in mid-November to 26 in mid-December to 112 at year's end, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.

3, the day after the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention OK'd the two-dose Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in children 5-11.

thinking more about their individual children and [the infection risk in] their family," she said.

The risk of severe COVID-19 is lower in children.

Minnesota hospitals through Wednesday reported 239 confirmed pediatric inpatient COVID-19 cases in January, according to federal data.

Some are children needing care for other issues who have mild or asymptomatic COVID-19, but even they demand extra attention and infection control measures, Chawla said.

More than 71% of adults 18-49 have received first doses of COVID-19 vaccine, according to Minnesota data, indicating that many parents are vaccinated even if their children are not.

The Lakeville mother is vaccinated but said she isn't in a hurry to get shots for her 7- and 9-year-old children, partly because her 4-year-old twins aren't eligible.

Osterholm said families shouldn't assume they are risk-free just because omicron produces fewer severe COVID-19 cases and the wave is peaking.

"You greatly reduce your risk of having severe myocarditis by being vaccinated," he said.

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