to keep their kids safe. nbc s stephanie gosk is following the dramatic rise in covid hospitalizations we re seeing among our children. reporter: across the country the vast majority of students are back in in-person classes. new numbers from the american academy of pediatrics show just how fast covid case numbers are rising among children. in the week before christmas, pediatric covid cases reached nearly 200,000. troubling numbers show an even more dramatic statistic. the very next week a 60% jump of children getting covid, nearly 300,000. the case numbers are leading to record hospitalizations of children with covid in nine different states. while some of those children are being treated for other conditions when they test positive, doctors say a significant number are getting serious cases of covid.
covid in a very short period of time has become one of the leading medical causes of death for children in this country. so i think it s about time that we stopped downplaying the significance of covid for children. reporter: the omicron variant is even having an impact on the unborn. holy cross in fort lauderdale is shutting down its maternity ward because of a surge in cases among hospital staff. at the texas children s hospital, there were zero pediatric cases when december began. now there are 70. today s hospitalization numbers have surpassed our peak of patients during the recent delta surge. reporter: the problem, say health experts, low vaccination rates for young children. we are beginning to vaccinated our 5-11 year olds. when you look at who s been in the hospital, it s actually those 5-11 year olds who have not yet received the vaccine.
95% of the covid cases in this country are from the omicron variant. just 5% of them believed to be from the delta variant. now, obviously this comes amid that rapid surge of cases we ve seen around the country with the country hitting new highs. the white house insists that the focus should not be on case counts, but hospitalizations and deaths. the white house has said that the desire of those vaccines is to try to limit severe illness. as a function ofcases being so high, hospitalizations have gone up as well. hospitalizations now in 20 states have reached a high. certainly there are alarming numbers as it relates to children as well. the president will be briefed by his covid response team this afternoon, expected to make some remarks.
were at the u.s. capitol that day have been up to in their hometowns since the insurrection. here s a hint. more culture wars. we want to start with the latest on this pandemic and the current rise in covid cases and hospitalizations nationwide. with us, nbc chief white house correspondent peter alexander, heidi przybyla and dr. gupta. there are at the people s house, the president set to meet with his covid response team just a few hours from now. how is the white house strategy changing to meet this new phase in the pandemic? reporter: let s start with a snapshot of this phase of the pandemic. the cdc within the last few minutes announce right now that
MSNBC Craig Melvin Reports January 4, 2022 16:00:15 archive.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from archive.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.