Maine has record cases of COVID-19 in children and adolescents

AUGUSTA, Maine – The rate of COVID-19 cases among Mainers under 20 reached a new high this week as the virus keep increasing here and young children remain ineligible for vaccinations.

The seven-day average of cases among people under 20 in Maine rose to 132 on Tuesday, according to data from the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, breaking a record set in April.

The increase in cases in children stems from the fact that Maine’s high overall vaccination rate was not sufficient to stop the propagation of the delta variant. While three-quarters of Mainers aged 20 and over are fully vaccinated, according to state data, only 56% of people aged 12 to 19 are and no vaccines have been approved for young children. .

Recent data from Maine on cases among children under 12 who are still not eligible for vaccines was not available on Tuesday morning. But the current weekly case rate among Mainers under 20 – about 3.3 infections per 1,000 people – is more than 25 times higher than it was two months ago, according to data from the state. It is also the highest infection rate of any age group in Maine over the past week.

Since the start of the pandemic, about 5.7% of Mainers under the age of 20, or 16,000 people, have tested positive for COVID-19. Hospitalizations remain extremely rare in this age group. At the end of August, the most recent data available, 34 children had been hospitalized with the virus in Maine and one had died.

But cases of COVID-19 in children have proven to be disruptive in recent weeks in Maine. More than ten schools across the state have already reported outbreaks, forcing dozens of students to self-quarantine in the first few weeks of the semester.

The increase in COVID-19 cases in children here reflects trends seen in other states in recent months, as the highly contagious delta variant causes more infections in unvaccinated people, including children. a analysis of the American Academy of Pediatrics released Monday documented nearly 500,000 infections in children nationwide in the previous two weeks, an increase of about 240% from July.

The group concluded that serious illness from COVID-19 remains “rare” in young people, but said more study is needed on the potential long-term consequences of infection in children.

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