71% of California kids have had COVID-19

About 71% of children in California between the ages of 6 months and 17 years have been contaminated with COVID-19 for the reason that begin of the pandemic, in comparison with about 80% of children nationwide, in keeping with current estimates from the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention.

Why it issues: The most recent BA.5 subvariant of Omicron is now the dominant pressure of the coronavirus within the U.S., and it is probably the most transmissible we have seen for the reason that begin of the pandemic, Axios’ Tina Reed writes.

• It could actually break by vaccines and evade antibodies from prior Omicron infections.
• Whereas research counsel lengthy COVID is rarer in youngsters, they’re nonetheless liable to creating it.
• As the general public college yr begins for the San Francisco Unified Faculty District’s roughly 49,000 college students, there’s potential for COVID hotspots to emerge.

Sure, however: An estimated 73% of children in San Francisco have obtained at the least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, in keeping with town’s COVID dashboard, providing some safety towards the virus.

What we’re watching: How the varsity yr impacts COVID-19 circumstances amongst college students.

What’s subsequent: SFUSD plans to transition from offering take-home molecular check kits at faculties to providing speedy antigen assessments.

• The college district will distribute antigen assessments the week of Aug. 22.
• Masks are really helpful however not required inside faculties.