Covid-19: out of every five hospitalizations, two are children, Fiocruz points out

According to a survey by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation’s Observatório de Saúde na Infância (Observa Infância), the number of children hospitalized for complications from Covid-19 already exceeds that of the elderly. According to the survey, the situation reflects the success of vaccination in the elderly and the poor coverage of children under the age of 5, which resulted in a reversal in the data on hospitalizations due to illness.

“Every day without vaccines applied to this age group, more than one child dies of Covid-19 in Brazil,” says Cristiano Boccolini, researcher in Public Health at Fiocruz.

Between 14 August and 10 September, the number of children admitted to hospital represented almost double that of the elderly: 678 infants and children under the age of 5 were hospitalized for covid-19 in Brazil during this period, while the admissions of elderly over 60 years added to 387. Furthermore, while the data on the elderly show a reduction of 325% in the daily average of deaths, in children under the age of 5 this decrease was 250%: the scenario predicted that children under the age of 5 were responsible for two out of five hospitalizations for covid-19 in Brazil.

In total, Observa Infância reported that from January to June 2022 there were 90,000 hospitalizations of people over the age of 60, compared to 7,800 hospitalizations of infants and children under the age of 5.

Vaccination of children against covid

Vaccination of children between the ages of 3 and 4 can only be done with CoronaVac, the only immunizing agent approved for the emergency group by the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa). Until September 23, only 2.5% of the population in this age group had received the vaccine and, according to the Vaccinometer of the Ministry of Health, the number of doses applied to these children does not reach 1 million.

For children aged 6 months to 2 years, Anvisa approved the use of pediatric Pfizer this month, but vaccination has not yet started – and there are no predictions, although the file states that, given the contract of the ministry with the manufacturer, the campaign must start early.

With information from Agência Brasil

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Source: Olhar Digital