As the Omicron variant continues to wreak havoc across the country, new data suggests children who were previously far less affected by past COVID-19 variant are now bearing the brunt of virus-related hospitalizations.
According to an analysis of Department of Health and Human Services data by NBC News, the number of US children hospitalized with COVID-19 increased more than 50 percent in the last month.
Over the last four weeks, the number of children hospitalized in the country increased by more than 650, with 1,270 of them admitted as of December 26, according to the outlet.
The data doesn't show whether the hospitalized children are eligible for vaccine.
The prevalence of Omicron has led to a 29% increase in hospitalizations among adults. The rapid rate at which children are being admitted highlights the rapid rate at which adults are being admitted.
In the last four weeks, the number of kids hospitalized with COVID-19 has more than doubled in ten states, with Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, and Ohio leading the pack.
According to CBS News, the US has seen a 30% increase in the number of children being hospitalized for COVID-19.
The state department of health in New York warned physicians on Christmas Eve of an "upward trend" in hospitalizations of children in the New York City area.
The memo did not say how many children are currently hospitalized in the state, but it said admissions rose fourfold between December 5 and December 19. According to the notice, half of the admissions were vaccine-ineligible children.
In the past week, no of the New York children between 5-11 years old were fully vaccined, and only a quarter of the children ages 12 to 17 years old were.
Children are at risk of developing long COVID and MIS-C, an inflammatory syndrome that attacks multiple organs, if they get a COVID-19 case.
Child vaccinations need to be done. The acting commissioner of the New York State Department of Health told CBS that they need to get them higher than they are.
