state, and federal leaders onboard to implement those policies and to do it with clear messaging and explain what is the evidence and the data behind these changes. i think that is an area that we have been remiss on over the last two years. the messaging piece is incredibly important. and it should be part of any successful pandemic response. i m so sorry, i thought that you were done there. dr. gunder, what does this look like for schools? and let me be even more specific, which is there is now a vaccine that is available for children 5 and up. so there s sort of that piece of it. there s also the fact that a lot of those children, like in my own home, perhaps, and yours, have a sibling who is too young to be vaccinated. that is going to continue to be our reality for a while, so for schools, how do they need to be thinking about this? and for families that have some
potentially encouraging news for parents eager to get their children younger than 5 vaccinated against covid. dr. scott gottlieb, a former fda chief and pfizer board member, predicting pfizer s pediatric shot for those 6 months to 4 years old could be submitted for authorization in weeks, if officials opt for a two-dose regimen versus three doses now under consideration. getting two doses into a child can provide baseline immunity that protects them from severe disease, from hospitalization. it could be out much sooner, perhaps as early as early march. reporter: while it may be welcome news for some parents, covid vaccines have stalled among eligible children 5 and up, with less than 40% fully vaccinated. still, the u.s. is showing signs of turning a corner on the omicron surge. i think we re collectively breathing a large sigh of relief right now. we ve had over a week of a slow but steady decline. reporter: hospital admissions were down by more than 11% in the last week. yet
break. we know that in some cases now school districts are saying there will be at home remote learning. what are your concerns right now about where we are as a nation with this pandemic and with the growing threats? well, fredricka, i can tell you again as a mom and pediatrician, i m concerned about the rising numbers but i m not surprised. we have an incredibly contagious omicron variant circulating right now and there is no doubt in my mind that putting children back into school will increase the spread of this. there s also no doubt in my mind that we have the tools to keep our children generally safe and that for children 5 and up, they can be vaccinated and those children should be fully vaccinated. we know that kids ending up in the hospital, those are predominantly the not vaccinated
back on the field or court. companies are now cracking down on the unvaccinated. this is a big move. new orleans, the public school system, just became the first in the nation to mandate vaccines for children 5 and up. that s huge for parents and starts next month, i believe. that s going to be a big change for them. when it comes to all of this, you got to look at the numbers here. the u.s. is averaging 119,000 new cases each day. that is 40% higher than where we were a month ago. coronavirus hospitalizations are also 40% higher and more than 67,000 people. icu beds are 78% full, one in five of those patients has covid. nationwide, 1326 coronavirus deaths reported on average each day. and the cdc is predicting that hospital admissions could reach record levels in the coming weeks. so with cases and deaths looking a lot like what we saw last winter, what is different is we re about to approach prepandemic levels of travel.
opening curtain. everyone was seated already. new outbreak in post pro sports. the league postponed games. the nba and nfl updated protocols for the holiday season, issuing new mask requirements and restrictions and the like. speeding up the team asymptomatic players can get back to the field or courts after testing negative. companies are cracking down on the unvaccinated. new orleans this morning becoming the first public school system in the nation to mandate vaccines for children 5 and up. that is huge for parents there. when you look at this and all these developments john just told you about, here are where the numbers are. the u.s. is averaging 119,000 new cases each day. that s 40% higher than where we were just a month ago. coronavirus hospitalizations are also 40% higher, more than 67,000 people. right now icu beds are 78% full and one in five of those patients has covid.