Aug 24, 2022 - COVID
CDC: Most Michigan children have had COVID-19
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More than eight in 10 Michigan children have likely already been infected with COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control estimates.
Driving the news: The agency released its latest pediatric antibody seroprevalence survey results last week.
- Blood samples taken in May and June suggest that 85% of residents between the ages of 6 months and 17 years have had the illness at least once.
Zoom out: The Michigan estimate is above the national average of 79.7%.
Context: Americans younger than 5 years old weren't approved for vaccines until June.
- The number of those kids getting vaccines nationwide peaked two weeks after they became eligible and has been decreasing since, the Kaiser Family Foundation found.
- Just 1.3% of Detroiters in that age bracket have had at least one shot, compared with 4.7% of Michiganders, per state data.
Of note: Researchers need more age-specific data so they can better assess illness severity and long-term impact in children, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.