While California’s COVID-19 outlook has improved, the number of cases in kids has actually been on the rise.
That’s why the state’s top epidemiologist is pushing to get more young people vaccinated.
Just a few weeks in, almost a half million California kids aged 12 to 15 have received their first dose.
“This is a really exciting time to be protected and to be able to resume the normal activities,” said Dr. Erica Pan, state epidemiologist at the California Department of Public Health. “Back to sleepovers, back to travel, back to hanging out with your friends indoors without a mask on, getting back to school and normality.”
She said that while it’s far less likely for kids to see the worst outcomes like the elderly, healthy kids can still get really sick.
“And we’ve also seen probably about double the number of deaths so far in kids from COVID-19 in the country, compared to flu, like a bad flu season,” Pan told KCBS Radio.
The doctor said that early surveys show a correlation between parents and kids getting vaccinated, and she hopes that teens will convince vaccine-hesitant parents to get inoculated with them.
