Omicron surge afflicts parents of children who are too young for shots

Grammy afternoon. Birthday party. Meet other toddlers in the park. Parents of children who are too young to be vaccinated face difficult choices as all encounters appear to be dangerous due to the proliferation of COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron mutation.

For Maine business owner Erin Connolly, the most disastrous decision is Madeleine, her three-year-old daughter, and Connolly’s mother, who takes care of the girl one day a week, not preschool.

It’s a precious time to make cookies, go to the library, or just hang out. However, the energetic girl resists wearing a mask, and highly contagious varieties are spreading at a blazing pace, so Connolly wonders how long it will last and when it feels too dangerous. Say that.

Westbus Connolly said Madeleine and her 6-year-old vaccinated son were less worried about getting the virus than the illness and segregation effects on their grandparents. But she is also worried that her vaccinated parents are infected with a breakthrough case.

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According to health experts, Omicron is less severe and less hospitalized, but its rapid spread indicates that it is much more contagious than other variants. According to the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 718,000 COVID cases were reported on Tuesday. Omicron is now responsible for more than 90% of cases in the United States, rising rapidly from less than 10% two weeks ago.

“The amount of infection is so high that more children will be infected,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said in a briefing at the White House on Wednesday.

According to reports from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Association of Children’s Hospitals, COVID cases in American children and teens have nearly doubled in the last two weeks of December, bringing the total to nearly 326,000 in the final week alone.

The surge in Omicron fuel Children in the hospital Record number: During the week of December 27, 2021 to January 2, 2022, an average of 672 children under the age of 17 were admitted to the hospital with coronavirus. This is more than double the previous week. However, children make up a small percentage of those who are still hospitalized.

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Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease doctor, said surrounding children with vaccinated adults is one way to prevent them from becoming infected with the virus. Health officials have also repeatedly said that face masks prevent infections, and wearing face masks on children over the age of 2 in public and group settings can help keep them safe.

Connolly, 39, and her mother had a difficult conversation about the dilemma on Tuesday morning.

“Is Madeleine masked?” Her mother asked. “I said,’We’re trying, but I don’t know if she will,'” Connolly recalled. “I said,’Does that mean that the Grammy-winning Thursday is gone?'” She said, “I don’t know yet,” Connolly said in tears.

Parents who wanted the New Year to vaccinate their infants were frustrated when Pfizer announced last month that the two doses did not provide the preventative benefits expected of young people aged 2 to 4 years. Did.

Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, head of pediatric infectious diseases at Stanford University School of Medicine, said the researchers were frustrated but are working to resume the study with a third vaccination. Maldonado is leading a university Pfizer vaccine study in children under the age of 12.

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Maldonado understands the frustration of parents with young children, but avoids this surge of unnecessary travel, and day care centers, kindergartens, and other care providers need masks and other recommendations. He said he advised to make sure that he was taking precautionary measures.

Jacob Aki, who lives in Honolulu, sees the spread of Omicron and is thinking about refraining from the first birthday party for his 10-month-old son. Celebrating milestones is important in his Native Hawaiian culture. This tradition stems from an era when it was a feat to celebrate the first birthday before the measles vaccine became available. The family also canceled plans to experience snow in Canada. Meanwhile, all coughs and snuffs are causing anxiety.

“Baby usually gets sick at this age,” Aki said. “But with all of COVID … the anxiety is high.”

Heather Cimellaro, a technology teacher in Auburn, Maine, says she’s more worried about keeping her three-year-old twin boys healthy. One has medical problems associated with preterm birth, and the family regularly travels to Boston to meet professionals.

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“COVID can really throw a wrench on those plans,” Cimlellaro said.

Cimellaro, 33, says Omicron is rethinking her twin running errands, visiting the library’s storytime, and even at a preschool children’s health center. She is worried that the boys could catch the COVID and spread it to their “grandpa”.

“It’s just a lot of worry:” Am I doing the right thing? “She said. “That’s the problem. I’m not an epidemiologist. I don’t know how dangerous it is to them, so it’s like such an argument with myself.”

Erin Stanley of Berrien Springs, Michigan, said she and her husband had reduced their social lives thanks to Omicron to protect their three-year-old son Ralph. They are both vaccinated and boosted, but are worried that Ralph will get sick and spread the disease to his young cousins, preschool classmates, grandparents, and beloved great-grandmothers.

They didn’t see their great-grandmother at Christmas and skipped holiday gatherings with other relatives.

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“It was upset,” Stanley said. It looked dangerous. “

Stanley, 35, a popular organic farm cook, was shopping for Ralph’s groceries. This was a trip he was looking forward to and was one of his few social interactions outside of preschool. But few shoppers wear masks, she said.

The shy boy recently underwent three fears and three negative COVID tests.

“Taking the swab test was really traumatic for him,” Stanley said. He added that “virus” and “swab” are now part of his vocabulary.

“He keeps saying,’I don’t want to get a cotton swab!'” If the vaccine comes for him, we will definitely get it. “She said.

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Honolulu Associated Press writer Jennifer Cinco Kelleher contributed to this report.

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Follow AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner @LindseyTanner..

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The Associated Press’s Department of Health Sciences is supported by the Science Education Department of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. AP is solely responsible for all content.