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The number of children diagnosed with COVID-19 continues to soar as millions of students return to the classroom for in-person learning. According to the latest data from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the number of weekly pediatric coronavirus cases topped 250,000 for the week ending on September 2. That is the highest number since the start of the pandemic and represents more than 25% of all cases in the country.
While most of the cases in children are not severe, more than 2,400 were hospitalized, which is also marks the highest weekly number since the beginning of the pandemic.
As the number of cases in children continues to climb, health experts are urging the Food and Drug Administration to grant an emergency use authorization for the COVID-19 vaccines in children under the age of 12. Currently, only Pfizer's vaccine has been approved for kids over the age of 12.
"And so what we have to do is weigh, is the risk of the vaccine less than or greater than the risk of COVID infection to children? And I think it's very clear to us that the risk of COVID in children far outweighs any potential risk of the vaccine," American Academy of Pediatrics President Lee Savio Beers told NPR.
The FDA is working on approving the vaccine for younger children but is still reviewing safety and efficacy data. A decision is not expected until late fall or winter.