A new analysis from the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Pediatrics finds that more than 46,000 children under 18 in the U.S. lost a parent to COVID-19. Although overall cases are down because of the many individuals who have been vaccinated, the pandemic is not over. The Delta variant that has devastated India and caused a significant rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the U.K. is on the rise in the U.S. Delta variant cases have doubled in the U.S. in the past two weeks, are surging in states with low vaccination rates, and now represent 20.6 percent of U.S. COVID-19 cases. Studies are showing that those of us who are vaccinated are protected from this more aggressive, highly contagious variant. If you’re not vaccinated, please know that the risk to you and those you love remains. The choice is yours, as are the consequences of not taking action to prevent what is now truly a preventable illness. If you don’t get vaccinated for you, please consider doing so for those you love and who love you.
