Sonoma County releases youth coronavirus hospitalization data

Nineteen county residents under the age of 18 have been hospitalized for COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.|
MARTIN ESPINOZA
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

For information about how to schedule a vaccine in Sonoma County, go here.

To track coronavirus cases in Sonoma County, across California, the United States and around the world, go here.

For more stories about the coronavirus, go here.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, 19 Sonoma County residents under age 18 have been hospitalized after contracting the novel coronavirus — a half dozen of them with a serious COVID-related condition that leads to the inflammation of various body parts, including the heart, lungs, kidneys and brain.

During a virtual town hall Wednesday, local health officials said six youth have been hospitalized with multisystem inflammatory syndrome, or MIS-C. All six, as well as the 13 other local youth hospitalized with COVID-19 illness, have been discharged from the hospital, officials said.

County health officials released the information about pediatric hospitalizations as it prepares to expand COVID-19 vaccinations to children ages 5 to 11. This week, a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted to recommend a small dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for that age group.

Dr. Urmila Shende, the county’s vaccine chief, said further federal approvals are expected next week, and the earliest that local children ages 5 to 11 — about 37,000 in all — could start receiving inoculations would be Nov. 8.

Kathryn Pack, health program manager for the county's epidemiology team, said that throughout the pandemic kids ages 5 to 17 have comprised 15% of the roughly 40,000 official virus infections in Sonoma County. However, this age group makes up 21% of new cases in the past 60 days.

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @pressreno.

For information about how to schedule a vaccine in Sonoma County, go here.

To track coronavirus cases in Sonoma County, across California, the United States and around the world, go here.

For more stories about the coronavirus, go here.

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