Thirty-one children under the age of 12 tested positive for COVID-19 after an outbreak at a sleep-away camp in upstate New York, the New York Times reported Thursday.
Why it matters: None of the children are seriously ill, but the infections raise concerns about the possibility of transmission to nearby communities. The cases come as the Delta variant spreads across the U.S.
All 31 are too young to receive vaccines in the U.S.
"I think that when the kids go back to school, we could see this, and I’m concerned about that," Jack Mabb, the health director of Columbia County, where the camp of 550 is located, told the Times.
The cases follow a series of positive tests at other summer camps in the U.S., mostly among teens and adults.
The big picture: President Biden said this week that he believes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will authorize the vaccine for children under 12 soon. But he refused to specify a timeline.
The outbreak "is emblematic of the challenges that arise when a huge population cannot be vaccinated, even as it highlights the effectiveness of vaccines," the Times writes.
