Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, says child hospitalizations due to coronavirus are "avoidable" with the vaccine.
"Virtually all, not 100% but close to that, of the children who are seriously ill in our hospitals from COVID-19 are children whose parents decided they did not want to vaccinate them," Fauci said during an appearance on NewsNation’s "Morning in America" Thursday.
"That is avoidable," he added.
"If you look at the number of children right now going to the hospital who are in trouble getting seriously ill, you almost have to say it's the responsibility of the parent to protect their child," Fauci added.
The omicron-fueled surge that is sending COVID-19 cases rocketing in the U.S. is putting children in the hospital in close to record numbers, and experts lament that most of the younger people are not vaccinated.
During the week of Dec. 21-27, an average of 334 children 17 and under were admitted per day to hospitals with coronavirus, a 58% increase from the week before, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The previous peak over the course of the pandemic was in early September, when child hospitalizations averaged 342 per day, the CDC said.
On a more hopeful note, children continue to represent a small percentage of those being hospitalized with COVID-19: An average of over 9,400 people of all ages were admitted per day during the same week in December. And many doctors say the younger people coming in now seem less sick than those seen during the delta surge over the summer.
The report comes a day after Dr. Robert Malone, a key architect of mRNA technology and vocal critic of COVID-19 mandates and regulations, was booted from Twitter.
Malone has endorsed and encouraged older and at-risk Americans to receive the vaccine, but has suggested that younger, healthier persons should question its use.
In an interview with Newsmax earlier this year, Malone argued that the risks of the vaccine for children far outweigh the benefits, noting that children have an extremely low mortality rate from COVID-19.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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