Dr Rochelle Walensky from the CDC has warned young Americans to take the coronavirus vaccine amid a worrying trend of teenagers ending up requiring intensive care. It comes as the latest figures suggest as many as one-third of children in the USA who contract Covid end up in ICU. President Joe Biden has pledged to boost vaccinations as a number of US states look to reverse falling levels of take-up.
Dr Walensky told ABC News: “More concerning was the number of adolescents admitted to the hospital who required treatment in the intensive care unit with mechanical ventilation.”
An ABC News reporter added: “There are concerns that a significant number of teenagers who get sick and have to be hospitalised are ending up in the ICU.”
It comes as 17-year old Zoie Vincent from the US state of Ohio told the network: “Honestly I feel it was the sickest I have ever been.
“If I can somehow guarantee that I will never feel this way again and my family won’t have to feel this way again.
“I feel like I would definitely take it so I did get the vaccine.”
The latest figures in the show around one in three children hospitalised with Covid in the US end up in an ICU ward.
Of those children who have developed severe illness from Covid-19 most have had underlining medical conditions, reports ABC News.
According to US health officials, only around 25 percent of teenagers 12 to 17-years-old have received one dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
The US currently holds the highest total number of virus cases, with more than 34 million people testing positive.
In addition, the US has also recorded the highest number of deaths of any country in the world with a total exceeding 610,000.
In a number of American states have launched incentives to get as many people vaccinated as possible, ranging from million-dollar lottery jackpots to free beer.
President Joe Biden has pledged to partially vaccinate 70 percent of adults in the US by Independence Day on July 4.
