(Austin – Feb. 9) — Adults may be getting used to living with COVID-19 in its third year of the national pandemic, but children were mostly unscathed, showing few symptoms when they did test positive. Since the Fall, however, the number of children hospitalized with the virus has increased dramatically – almost tenfold in one month.
Many of those children have something in common: They have not been vaccinated.
Now that there is a vaccine for children – and as the FDA considers a vaccine for children under 5 — the Texas Association of Mexican American Chambers of Commerce (TAMACC) is working with member Hispanic Chambers across the state to encourage pediatric vaccines along with vaccines for all ages.
“It’s so important for Hispanic business leaders to take a proactive role in getting our own communities to vaccinate their children. Not just because productivity decreases if parents get sick or have to miss work to care for their kids,” said TAMACC’s President and CEO Pauline Anton. “But mostly because we are talking about our future.
“These are the inventors, entrepreneurs, tech leaders, business owners, scientists and investors of the next generation,” Anton said. “We must protect them to protect our future.”
There have been more than 10 million cases of pediatric COVID cases reported in the U.S. — and more than 900 children have died as of Feb. 2. The Center for Disease Control reports that the low rate of vaccinations among children is partly responsible for this uptick and the rate of 12- to 17-year-olds hospitalized in December was nine times that of the month before.
As of mid-January, the CDC reports 54 percent of children ages 12-17 and 18 percent of children 5-11 have been fully vaccinated. Studies also found that children 12-15 who are unvaccinated are 11 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID than vaccinated children in the same age range. Doctors are also alarmed about a rising number of cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), a post COVID condition that can lead to inflammation of the lungs, brain and other vital organs.
In Texas, pediatric vaccines are available at most pharmacies or can also be scheduled through Texas Children’s Hospital.
