As COVID surges more children are being infected, and hospitalizations are increasing. However, the vaccination rate among the youth is decreasing.

Last week, over 981,000 million pediatric COVID-19 cases were confirmed. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, 1 in 10 COVID cases among children have occurred this past week out of the entire pandemic. While severe symptoms and death are less likely for children, hospitalizations have increased, putting stress on pediatric care units around the nation.

The vaccination rate for children dropped shortly after the vaccine was approved for the five to 11 age category. According to Dr. Mark Kline, the physician-in-chief at Children’s Hospital New Orleans, “They’re the only age group left that is 100 percent unvaccinated.” As of now, less than one third of kids ages 5 to 11 have received at least one does of the COVID vaccine. While there is no vaccine available for children under five, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), states that hospitalizations for children under 5 have risen 48% since the beginning of December.

“The chance of hospitalization is still relatively low, however with such a large number of children getting infected, a significant group of children are still ending up hospitalized,” said Dr. Gopi Desai, pediatrician at New York-Presbyterian Medical Group Queens and an assistant professor of clinical pediatric at Weill Cornell Medicine. “Since these children do not have the benefit of vaccination to protect them, they remain amongst the more vulnerable groups.”

Experts say that getting vaccinated and boosted, mask wearing, and social distancing are all precautions people should take to reduce their chance of infection. “Stay outdoors if possible/weather permitting. And importantly, stay home if anyone in the family is sick and make sure that others that you are seeing are not sick,” said Desai.