Idaho health officials say state has confirmed its first COVID-19 child death
For the first time since the pandemic began, a child in Idaho has died of COVID-19, according to the Department of Health and Welfare.
The infant died in October, according to a news release, and resided in the jurisdiction of Southwest District Health, which includes Adams, Canyon, Gem, Owyhee, Payette and Washington counties. Officials did not release other identifying details about the child.
“Our hearts go out to the family of this child,” Elke Shaw-Tulloch, Idaho Division of Public Health administrator, said in the news release. “Infection with the virus can have devastating impacts on families, and this situation highlights the seriousness of COVID-19.”
While the Pfizer vaccine was recently authorized for Americans ages 5-11, there is not yet a vaccine authorized for children younger than that.
At a news briefing on Tuesday, health officials encouraged pregnant women, women planning to become pregnant or parents with children at home to get vaccinated.
“Getting a vaccine can protect parents and prospective parents from severe illness from COVID and also can help protect babies,” said Dr. Christine Hahn, state epidemiologist. She added that there is “no evidence” that vaccination causes infertility.
In September, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that pregnant women who get COVID-19 are “at an increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes that could include preterm birth, stillbirth, and admission into the ICU of a newborn also infected with COVID-19.”
Dr. Guillermo Guzman, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Saint Alphonsus, has seen the effects COVID-19 can have on pregnant women, he said Tuesday.
“I’ve had patients lose their pregnancies to COVID. I’ve had patients sick enough to either go into premature labor on their own, or as a consequence have to be induced before their due date to allow the teams caring for the mother-baby couplet to deliver the baby and now focus on saving the mother,” he said.
He added that the safety of the vaccine in pregnant people is “very similar” to that in all others, and that the risk of serious side effects is “very small.”
“Think of a vaccine as a seat belt,” he said. “Seat belts do not prevent car accidents, but they keep you alive if you do get into one.”
About 900 children have died of COVID-19 in the U.S., according to the CDC.
Idaho has reported a total of 3,678 COVID-related deaths since the pandemic arrived in March 2020. Since May, around 86% of COVID-19 deaths in Idaho have been among unvaccinated people, according to data from Health and Welfare.
This story was originally published November 9, 2021 at 2:55 PM.
