51ÊÓƵ

They’ve hung on for two years, delaying family travel plans, juggling jobs and little ones at home, forever wrestling masks onto tiny faces even as the rest of the world moved on. But now, parents of young children are seeing a small glimmer of hope. Moderna on Wednesday announced plans to ask US regulators to approve two shots of its mRNA COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 6 months to 5 years. (Fatima, 3/25)

Many parents with children under six years old have taken extra precautions during the pandemic because these kids are too young to be vaccinated and rarely wear their masks consistently. As companies started to call employees back to the office, some parents declined, fearing they might bring the infection home to their youngest children. A U.S. Census Household Pulse Survey in November asked respondents their main reason for not working, and 4.9 million people said they were caring for children not in school or day care, and 2.4 million people said they were concerned about getting or spreading the coronavirus. That's a huge number. In a tight labor market, a vaccine for the youngest children has the potential to bring parents who opted out back into the workforce, easing the labor crunch for some employers. (Morse, 3/25)

Pediatric hematologist and oncologist Alissa Kahn treats some of the most vulnerable kids with cancer and sickle cell diseases at St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital in Paterson, New Jersey. She said the omicron variant was a disaster for her patients under 5, who are still ineligible for Covid vaccines. At the height of the wave, multiple preschool-age patients had to be admitted to the hospital due to dangerous Covid infections. Other young children with cancer had life-saving chemotherapy delayed, potentially reducing their chances of a cure. (Langreth and Rutherford, 3/23)

KHN: Senators Ask GAO To Examine Medicaid’s Low Covid Vaccination Rates 

Two prominent Democratic senators have requested a Government Accountability Office study of why covid vaccination rates remain far lower among Medicaid enrollees than the general population and what barriers are impeding state efforts to increase immunizations among program beneficiaries, low-income people who have been disproportionately affected by the virus. Sens. Robert Casey Jr. of Pennsylvania and Ron Wyden of Oregon asked for the inquiry, citing recent stories by KHN and Roll Call that have highlighted the problem and states’ ongoing struggle to raise vaccination rates, according to a letter to the GAO that was provided to KHN. A KHN article published in February reported data from several states — Utah, Washington, Virginia, and California — which showed that vaccination rates of the Medicaid population were well below overall state rates. For example, in California, 54% of Medicaid enrollees 5 and older had been at least partly vaccinated, compared with 81% of state residents in that age group. (Galewitz, 3/25)

The chance of even a mild case of COVID-19 turning into a long-term, debilitating medical condition is one of the greatest fears of Americans trying to navigate the pandemic, which is again taking a turn as new data shows the BA.2 subvariant is taking hold in the U.S. Unfortunately, the only sure way to avoid long COVID is not to catch the virus in the first place. But there is now a growing body of research that's offering at least some reassurance for those who do end up getting infected — being fully vaccinated seems to substantially cut the risk of later developing the persistent symptoms that characterize long COVID. (Stone, 3/24)

Over the course of the past two weeks, Covid positivity rates have ticked upward in New York City. But case rates among students have surpassed those in the general population (13.3 per 100,000 versus 9.6 citywide, for a seven-day period ending on March 22), figures the city’s Department of Education did not address when I reached out to ask about them. Some schools have had significant jumps. Hunter elementary school ended the week of March 12 with four cases; the week of March 19, there were 24. (Bellafante, 3/25)

A significant percentage of parents whose children wore masks in school during the last year believe it harmed their education, social interactions and mental health, according to a POLITICO-Harvard survey. The poll's findings come as the Biden administration monitors events in Europe, where BA.2, a subvariant of Omicron, is wreaking havoc, and White House officials warn that masks may be necessary if Covid-19 cases increase in the United States. (Goldberg, 3/24)

As many countries lift coronavirus restrictions and entry rules for travelers, some international airlines are also easing requirements for the journey. Dutch airline KLM will no longer enforce a face mask requirement onboard starting this week, despite government rules in the Netherlands, along with other carriers. The Netherlands lifted its mask mandate for public transit Wednesday, but it still requires them for air travel. (Diller, 3/24)

Once Hawaii drops its mask mandate later this week, no state in the United States will require everyone to wear a mask indoors to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Yet in many supermarkets, office buildings, movie theaters, and other indoor locations, some people are still masking up. But if only half, or a few, or nobody else is doing so, does the mask offer the wearer sufficient protection? The question is becoming more urgent because even though rates of COVID-19 in most of the U.S. are currently low, they are rising in Europe—due to the fast-spreading variant Omicron BA.2—which has often presaged a spike here. (Landau, 3/24)