Mississippi reports two more children have died of COVID-19
Mississippi has reported two more pediatric deaths due to COVID-19 since the end of last week, State Epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers told the Sun Herald on Wednesday morning.
Both children who died were between the ages of 11 and 17, Byers said.
The deaths bring the total number of pediatric deaths due to COVID-19 in the state to nine.
The health department does not announce the names or identities of people who die of COVID-19 or otherwise. But the ages and timing of the two recent deaths match 16-year-old Landon Woodson, a football player at North Pontotoc High School who died of COVID on Sept. 25.
In a Facebook post, his mother Tracie Young wrote that he had “always been health” until he contracted the virus.
“Please, Please get vaccinated,” she wrote.
The state last announced a pediatric death in early September, when a baby under a year old died of the virus.
September 2021 has become the deadliest month of the pandemic for children in Mississippi, with three deaths. Two children died in August 2021, and one in July.
The remaining three pediatric deaths occurred in August 2020, October 2020 and March 2021.
Delta surge deadly for children
That means that two-thirds of the state’s pediatric deaths have occurred since the delta surge began.
Five of the nine children who have died since the start of the pandemic were between the ages of 11 and 17.
In mid-September, Mississippi surpassed New Jersey to claim the country’s highest per capita death rate from COVID-19.
The Mississippi State Department of Health reported 50 new COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, bringing the total number of deaths to 9,588.
Children ages 12 and older are eligible for the Pfizer vaccine. As the delta surge sickened kids and disrupted the start of the school year, Singing River pediatrician Dr. Andrea Logan urged parents to vaccinate their eligible children.
“Please, please, get your 12-and-up vaccinated,” she said in an interview in August.
Like its overall vaccination rate, Mississippi’s pediatric vaccination rate lags well behind the national average. According to the state’s most recent report, 50% of Mississippians ages 12 and older have been fully vaccinated, compared to 65% nationally. Older Mississippians are closer to the national average: 75% of Mississippians over 65 have been vaccinated, compared to 83% nationally.
Pfizer recently announced a trial found its vaccine is safe and effective for kids ages 5 to 11, but it will likely take until the end of 2021 for the vaccine to receive full approval for kids.
This story was originally published September 29, 2021 at 10:18 AM.
