Kids Are Being Infected With COVID-19 Virus In Buffalo

There has been an increase in the number of children being infected with the COVID-19 virus. It was once thought that young people couldn't get sick from the virus, or would only have very mild symptoms. Young people are starting to get sick and are being admitted to the hospital.

Credit: WIVB

Just last week alone there were more than 3400 Erie County residents infected with the COVID-19 virus, and just under 700 of them were under the age of 19. In the beginning, I was a parent that was a little skeptical about letting my children get vaccinated, but now that there is more information available, I'm starting to feel like many other parents here in Buffalo about getting kids vaccinated.

Young people, even though we've always thought that they don't get sick, they don't get infected, if they do get infected, they're only mildly symptomatic, that's not true. We now know that there are cases in young people and they're going to school. We are seeing cases in schools and they are almost exclusively among students, not staff, and you know we are seeing young people in hospitals now, so, this is a serious disease for all age groups.

said, Dr. Gale Burstein, commissioner of the Erie County Health Department

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Although only about 2 percent of children end up in the hospital, that is still not a number that I would want to be a part of as a parent. This is another reason why I feel that it is important to get our young people vaccinated.

LOOK: Answers to 30 common COVID-19 vaccine questions

While much is still unknown about the coronavirus and the future, what is known is that the currently available vaccines have gone through all three trial phases and are safe and effective. It will be necessary for as many Americans as possible to be vaccinated in order to finally return to some level of pre-pandemic normalcy, and hopefully these 30 answers provided here will help readers get vaccinated as soon they are able.