By Hannah Reimann
As of January 5th, 2022, the 885,000 reported cases of the Omicron variant are shattering US records in regard to the COVID-19 crisis. The Grammy Awards have been postponed, Hong Kong has suspended flights from eight countries including the US, Rio de Janeiro has canceled its Carnaval street parties, classrooms have been shut in Chicago and in over 2000 other schools in the US including eight school districts in New Jersey. The peak of this newest, explosive variant is still weeks away, according to medical experts’ predictions.
The care of children has become a particular area of concern, largely because the unvaccinated are suffering most from Omicron. There are yet to be approved COVID-19 vaccines for kids under age five and plenty of school age children have younger siblings who are more vulnerable due to lack of vaccination. In addition to this, Omicron’s evidenced vaccine evasiveness and time-consuming testing lines have contributed to the steep spike in the variant. Pediatric hospitalizations due to COVID have quintupled in the past three weeks in New York City.
These circumstances have inspired WestView News to reach out to Dr. Matthew Harris, Medical Director, Northwell Vaccination Program, Cohen Children’s Medical Center. Funded in 2010 by Steve and Alexandra Cohen, our neighbors on Perry Street, the CCMC is the number one children’s hospital in New York, an award-winning facility with 202 beds in its main location in Queens.
WestView News: How many cases of the Omicron variant does the CCMC have now?
Dr. Harris: The Children’s Hospital does not directly track the specific variants (this is done at the level of the state).* Over the past 1.5 weeks, we have seen several hundred COVID positive patients in the pediatric emergency department. We have admitted dozens of children to the inpatient service, reaching 58 as our highest COVID inpatient status (this is the highest we have been during the pandemic). We have had as high as 13 children in the intensive care unit, half of whom are intubated. Nearly all children requiring admission to the ICU have had underlying medical conditions.
WestView News: How many cases are there for children under 5 years old?
Dr. Harris: The majority of new cases are under 5 years old. We have also seen several dozen infants with COVID (less than 3 months old), many of whom have required admission to the hospital.
WestView News: Are there available beds in CCMC now or are they all full?
Dr. Harris: CCMC has available beds at all times. We have a robust and tested surge plan that allows us to expand and contract as needed to meet demand.
WestView News: Do you need to turn people away because of caseloads?
Dr. Harris: CCMC makes every effort to accept any referred case.
WestView News: Is there an approved drug treating children with COVID 19 available now at CCMC?
Dr. Harris: Like many of the local children’s hospitals, we have a limited supply of monoclonal antibody for COVID positive patients older than 12 years of age. This is for patients with mild to moderate disease who do not require hospitalization. Additionally, inpatients with COVID who meet certain clinical criteria can be treated with Remdesivir and steroids, amongst other adjuvant therapies.
WestView News: How is the staff doing throughout this difficult period?
Dr. Harris: This has been a tough two years for all medical providers, but the last month has been a real challenge for pediatric providers. We have seen a tidal wave of omicron diagnoses and our children’s hospital has really stepped up to the challenge. This is a resilient group.
WestView News: Have staff members needed to stay home because they tested positive in the past month?
Dr. Harris: Like the rest of the community, we are challenged by staff members who test positive for COVID. However, we are well-staffed and able to meet the demands of the community, as expected from the number one children’s hospital in New York.
Of course, having all children back in school as soon as possible would be ideal for everyone in terms of mental health, better learning, social and community connection, job security for parents and preventing further pandemic burn-out. What are the solutions we can expect?
“Testing, in combination with robust vaccination programs, adds a very valuable tool to the arsenal,” Dr. Harris told CBS Evening News in regard to New York City’s January 2022 mandate for in-person learning in public schools. From this we can deduce that, as options for testing expand and vaccinations increase, more kids will be safely in school.
Thanks to doctors, nurses and staff such as Dr. Harris, one antidote to this health crisis is that CCMC is prepared to deal with the sharp uptick in COVID cases in children. Capable of handling this winter’s Omicron surge with foresight and its history of excellence, perhaps it can serve as a model for other medical institutions.
*By December 23, 2021, the Omicron variant surpassed Delta as the dominant strain in the US, spreading faster than any other variant yet.
