COVID: Parents Concerned About Young Children Amid Delta Variant Surge
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) -- The ongoing surge in Bay Area COVID cases is raising concerns for Bay Area children as they return to school for in-person learning with students under age 12 still unvaccinated and unprotected against the more contagious Delta variant
American Academy of Pediatrics reported that child cases steadily increased in July nationwide.
While there aren't many Bay Area children hospitalized with COVID even amid the current surge, health experts say kids are catching the virus at a rate far greater in places where vaccination rates are low.
"In states where there's a lot of COVID like Florida and Texas, we're seeing a heartbreaking rise in pediatric COVID infections. We're seeing children in pediatric ICU on ventilators," said Chief Medical Officer of MarinHealth Medical Center Dr. Karin Shavelson.
Many Bay Area parents are making their children take additional precautions, including masking outdoors as the Delta variant continues spreading, especially among the unvaccinated.
"It feels a little scary for sure. What are the risks for our kids as we wait for the vaccine to come out for the younger kids. So it feels a little bit more precarious," said Corte Madera parent Taylor Batlin.
"They can easily be carrying it and I don't want that to happen so don't want to necessarily be someone who contributes to that spread either," said parent Aaron Alcala-Mosley.
Doctors say there hasn't been a significant increase in children 11 and younger ending up in hospitals with COVID in the Bay Area.
But there was a cautionary tale nearby.
"In Northern California, where the rates of COVID are higher and the vaccine rate is lower, they're seeing a lot more pediatric infections in counties that are far north in Northern California," said Shavelson.
Shavelson doesn't believe most Bay Area hospitals will see an influx of pediatric patients, because of the fairly high rates of vaccination.
"As a pediatrician myself I don't want to see a single pediatric COVID case. Never mind 10 or 20 or 50. I wouldn't want that for anybody's child," said Shavelson.
An ice-cream truck passed by Corte Madera Town Park with a sign saying, "Watch for Children."
To protect them from COVID, the answer is for anyone eligible to get vaccinated.
"I don't know when the vaccine is coming, but it will happen at some point though," said five-year-old Heather Cook.