Nearly 40,000 children have lost at least one parent to COVID-19, the model said

A new research model has estimated that nearly 40,000 children have lost at least one parent to COVID-19 as the nation sees an increase in vaccine doses and hospitalizations among young people.

According to an analysis published last week by JAMA Pediatrics, researchers at Stony Brook University, Western Ontario University, Penn State University and the University of Southern California have estimated that nearly 40,000 children between the ages of 0 and 17 have lost a parent. cause COVID during the pandemic.

“The number of children facing a parent dying of COVID-19 is staggering, with about 37,300 to 43,000 already affected,” wrote the research team, led by Rachel Kidman of Stony Brook University.

“Black children are disproportionately affected, with only 14% of children in the United States but 20% of those losing a parent due to Covid-19,” the researchers added.

According to the researchers, the model suggests that every COVID-19 death leaves 0.078 children between the ages of 0 and 17 without at least one parent.

This number represents an increase from 17.5% to 20.2% of parental suffering due to the virus.

“In February 2021, 37,300 children between the ages of 0 and 17 lost at least one parent to COVID-19, three-quarters of whom were teenagers,” the study said.

“Of these, 20,600 were white non-Hispanic children and 7,600 were black non-Hispanic children. When we rely on the excess of deaths, we estimate that 43,000 children have lost a parent. “

The researchers also noted that “a natural strategy of staff immunity that results in 1.5 million deaths demonstrates the potential effect of inaction: 116,900 bereaved parents.”

For comparison, the attacks of September 11, 2001 left 3,000 children without a parent.

“Radical national reforms are needed to address the health, educational and economic consequences affecting children,” the research authors wrote.

“Parents of sick children will also need specific support to help with the pain, especially during this period of increased social isolation.

“The establishment of a national cohort for mourning children could identify children who have lost their parents, monitoring them for early identification of emerging challenges.”

The researchers noted that the estimates are based on demographic modeling, not on surveys or administrative data, and do not include the suffering of primary caregivers.

Meanwhile, Dr. Cyrus Shahpar, COVID-19 data director for the COVID White House, tweeted that the United States has administered more than 4.6 million doses of the vaccine.

“Amazing Saturday! + 4.63 million doses administered over the total yesterday, a new record! More than 500K higher than the old record last Saturday. An incredible number of doses are administered, “wrote Shahpar.

And while this is good news, the United States is still experiencing a worrying number of youth hospitalizations and a rising number of COVID-19 cases.

At a COVID-19 White House briefing on Friday, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said: “On the one hand, we have so many reasons for optimism and hope, and more Americans are being vaccinated.

“On the other hand, the cases and visits to the emergency room are up,” she added, pointing to younger adults who have not been vaccinated.

According to Walensky, young people between the ages of 18 and 64 have seen an increasing number of hospital visits, noting that the Upper Midwest is seeing these “increased” trends.

“The CDC is working closely with public health officials in the region to understand what causes these cases and how we can intervene,” she said.

Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech SE on Friday called on US regulators to allow the emergency use of their vaccine in adolescents between the ages of 12 and 15.

The vaccine is currently authorized for emergency use in the United States for people 16 years of age and older. The companies said on Friday they had applied for an extension of authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration to include the younger age group.

In March, doctors said the vaccine was safe, effective and produced strong antibody responses in children aged 12 to 15 in a clinical trial.

It is unclear how long it will take the regulator to review the study data, although Walensky said on Thursday that he expects the vaccine to be authorized for children between the ages of 12 and 15 by mid-May.

Inoculating children and young people is considered a critical step toward achieving herd immunity and taming the pandemic, according to many experts.

Last week, officials warned that nearly half of new coronavirus infections in the United States come from five states: New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Florida and Pennsylvania.

In particular, Michigan health officials expressed concern Wednesday about rising coronavirus cases, despite an intensified vaccination campaign.

Joneigh Khaldun, the state’s chief medical officer, warned on Twitter of a “significant increase” in cases.

“Our hospitalizations are also growing. Michiganders need to double up and take steps to help stop the spread of the virus, ‘she said.

Michigan is seeing more COVID infections in the population than any other US state, and some experts have attributed the increase to spring break.

“We have CDC teams on site working to assess outbreaks in correctional facilities,” Walensky said. “We are working to facilitate the increased testing that takes place on the field in the context of youth sports.”

Walensky said the CDC is also trying to “understand what’s going on” with COVID-19 variants.

The number of new cases has started to rise again in the US and there have been around 63,000 new cases per day on average in the last week.

As infections increased, the number of deaths decreased due to increased vaccination of “vulnerable” populations, Walensky said.

Health officials also said last week that the highly contagious variant of COVID-19, first discovered in the United Kingdom, has become the most common strain of the virus in the United States.

The strain, known as B.1.1.7, was identified in the UK last fall and has since been detected in 52 US jurisdictions, Walensky said.

U.S. public health officials have urged Americans to get vaccinated as soon as possible, in part to prevent the spread of new variants of the new coronavirus.

The United States has also detected cases of a variant first discovered in South Africa that is thought to be resistant to some COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. This strain has been found in 36 US jurisdictions, according to federal data.

Vaccine supply has increased significantly in the United States in recent weeks as Johnson & Johnson began producing millions of doses from recently authorized fires.

Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna have recently increased their vaccine production capacity.

President Joe Biden doubled his target for the first 100-day shootings from 100 million to 200 million and urged states to start shooting all adults by mid-April.

Walensky said the CDC has identified a number of outbreaks of COVID-19 related to youth sporting events and that communities facing a large number of cases should avoid organizing such events. Testing should take place twice a week, she said.

Andy Slavitt, White House counselor COVID-19, also told reporters that the US government is expanding its community health center program, which it has set up in recent weeks to help introduce vaccines to disadvantaged communities.