AUSTIN, Texas — With COVID-19 numbers going up and guidelines and mandates changing nearly every day, many KVUE viewers have questions. To try to get some of those answered, KVUE's Terri Gruca spoke with ABC News Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton on Tuesday morning.
Just before Gruca and Ashton spoke, Austin health leaders announced that there are only two ICU beds available for COVID-19 patients in the Austin area as of Monday night. Experts have also expressed concern about hospital staffing amid the current surge.
Ashton said limited available ICU beds and health care workers aren't just an issue for people dealing with COVID-19.
"I think it's a cautionary reminder that it's not just the risk of COVID-19 that puts all of us in jeopardy. It's important to remember that the everyday heart attacks, strokes, car accidents, those things have not stopped just because we're in the middle of a surge or a pandemic," Ashton said. "And when you hear statistics like the one that you just mentioned about there being two ICU beds available right now and not enough staff to take care of critically ill people, we need to be clear that puts all of us at risk because those things still continue to happen and it jeopardizes our overall health care system."
"In terms of beds and staff and supplies and systems, those things all need to be ready to go into action. And right now, they're not," Ashton added.
Gruca also asked Ashton about COVID-19 vaccinations for children, citing a recent CDC report that showed there were 349 children who died from COVID-19 and recent data showing a lower number of children hospitalized in the Austin area.
"Why are we pushing children to get a potentially emergency use authorization vaccine?" Gruca asked. "When we see these numbers in kids, they don't show the same types of symptoms as maybe some of our older adults."
Ashton said that is a great question and there are a few things that are really important to understand.
"When you talk about the pediatric age group, this is a unique and potentially vulnerable population. And there's a saying in medicine, 'There are worse things than death.' So, it's not just the number of fatalities – which I want to be clear: one child lost to COVID is one too many if you're talking about that child's family," Ashton said. "[But] yes, In general, they are at lower risk for serious illness and death. That is before the delta variant."
Ashton said in the last 12 to 24 hours, the American Academy of Pediatrics has been imploring the FDA to authorize emergency use vaccines for the age group of five through 11 years old using existing safety data that has already been collected and continuing to monitor for safety and efficacy as they do the clinical trials.
"Because we are seeing over 90,000 cases in the pediatric age group in this country largely attributable to the delta variant," Ashton said.
She also pointed out that when it comes to children and COVID-19, a low risk of death isn't the only thing to think about.
"Long COVID symptoms in the pediatric population is a risk, hospitalization, ICU care. We can't just turn a blind eye to that and say, 'Well, it's a low risk, so therefore we don't need to act on it.' There's a saying that I use all the time as a doctor, as a mother: 'It only has to happen once,'" Ashton said. "And if the worst-case scenario happens to you or your child, have you done everything possible to avoid that outcome? And right now, that includes an effort, with safety and efficacy data, to authorize vaccines for children under the age of 12."
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