Wearing a mask and vaccination will help reduce the COVID case rate in school-age children

Vaccinations and masks protect children from COVID-19, according to the latest data released by state health authorities.

In an update with a reporter on Thursday, state epidemiologist Dr. Rachel Harley gave a status report on the pandemic, with a focus primarily on children.

“There is this clear correlation between high vaccination rates and low case rates, and it applies not only to the adult population, but to our children,” Herlihy said. ..

Children aged 6 to 11 currently have the highest COVID case rates in Colorado.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the State Department of Health, has analyzed the latest viral trends and created a series of slides.

According to a 7-day moving average, children aged 6-11 now have the highest COVID-19 infection rate per 100,000 people in the state. This is followed by Colorados 12-17, followed by adults, with the youngest 0-5 showing the lowest case rates.

Researchers in the department found a case based on a 7-day moving average of Colorado per 100,000 school-aged children (ages 6-17) in the 10 largest counties in Colorado (all along the front range). I made a graph.

Weld, El Paso and Larimer counties were the highest, and Denver, Boulder and Arapaho were the lowest. Middle: Jefferson, Pueblo, Douglas, Adams.

CDPHE

In the same county, the 14-day case rate of children aged 12 to 17 years currently vaccinated is compared to the vaccination rate, and the county with the highest vaccination rate is among the age groups. It turned out to be the lowest. And counties with low vaccination rates among those children had higher case rates in that group.

States and individual counties hold data for different age groups, making comparisons difficult. But, for example, Weld County has the highest case rate among adolescents in any of the counties compared. Only 44.9 percent of children between the ages of 12 and 15 were vaccinated With at least one vaccination. On the other hand, in Boulder County, which has the second lowest youth case rate, 78% of young people aged 12-14 years were vaccinated With at least one dose.

“Therefore, this could certainly be one of the reasons why the proportion of pediatrics is currently different across the state,” Herlihy said. “We know that in counties where children’s vaccination rates are low, these rates are high.”

Masks have proven to help prevent the spread of the virus, but the presence of masks in schools is politically divided.

Another graph documents the effects of masks at school. The issue has caused disagreements in some districts, and while studies have shown that some parents, educators, and health officials prevent the spread of the virus, it violates personal freedom. He states that he is questioning the science.

The Ministry of Health compared school-age case rates in 48 school districts in Colorado that began school August 16-19. The incidence of the virus began to rise a few days after school began, and is clearly higher in areas that do not require masks than in areas that do. The gap widened considerably within a week and lasted until September 10.

CDPHE

The data collected so far show “the obvious effect of masks on reducing transmittance in our school environment.”

“Of course, we want to say that we know that masks are not only important in the school environment, but also very important outside of school,” Herlihy said.

The data highlight two important debates that public health officials and epidemiologists have had over the months. That is, vaccinations and masks work.

“We find that the case rate of the pediatric population vaccinated tends to be higher in counties with lower vaccination rates for children vaccinated,” Herlihy said. “And we also see that school districts without masks tend to have higher rates.”