As the Omicron surge continues, parents of young kids hunker down...again - CNN

Jan 16, 2022

Because there's no vaccine approved for babies that young, because cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 are rising precipitously across the United States, and because experts are once again recommending that people avoid gathering in groups, Wiener-Bambara didn't want to take any chances.

"It didn't feel much like a birthday," she said.

"Instead, we find ourselves in the middle of a viral blizzard, with an extremely contagious variant, and it's one of the most dangerous times for young kids in this pandemic."

Keeping guard up

Wen doesn't just think about the public health implications around Covid-19 and how it's affecting the mental health of parents with young kids -- she lives it every day.

Wen, a CNN Medical Analyst and author of "Lifelines: A Doctor's Journey in the Fight for Public Health," has two children: a 4-year-old who doesn't turn 5 until August and a 21-month-old.

Covid cases in the week ending January 1, according to US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The spike is potentially bad news for kids, according to Dr.

Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Biden and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

"The sheer volume of infections because of its profound transmissibility will mean that many more children will get infected," Fauci said last week at a White House briefing.

For the week ending January 6, more than 580,000 child Covid-19 cases were reported nationwide, according to a report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association.

This number is a 78% increase over the 325,000 added cases reported the week ending December 30, according to the report.

Help for children under 5 doesn't appear to be coming any time soon.

He won't say a word in his online class," Newman said.

Reasons for hope

Despite the uncertainty, despite the sacrifices, despite the hardship, most parents of kids under age 5 agree there are reasons for hope.

For starters, young children are at "extremely low risk" for severe cases of Covid-19, according to Dr.

Less than 1.5% of all child Covid-19 cases in the United States resulted in hospitalization of any kind, according to state data in the recent American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association report.

Fauci, the country's top infectious disease doctor, added that there are ways to minimize risk for children who are not yet eligible for vaccines: by surrounding children with vaccinated adults and by having them wear face coverings (preferably KN94 or KN95 masks) in public and group settings.

While her son was among the first children to be vaccinated, her daughter still has not received a shot.

Her son tested positive for Covid-19 this week, but everyone else in the family has tested negative.

O'Leary said that although she recognizes how unfair it has been for her kids to grow up during this time, she understands the precautions their family must take and has, for the most part, embraced them.