(KERO) — The omicron COVID-19 variant was far more infectious than delta in young children but caused less severe illness.
That data comes from a new study published Friday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.
The authors studied the health records of 65,000 U.S. children under the age of five.
That's the only age group that hasn't been authorized to receive the coronavirus vaccinations.
In the study, the omicron variant was 6-to-8 times more infectious in young children than the delta variant of COVID-19.
Fortunately, emergency visits, hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and the use of ventilators were far less frequent with omicron.
Deaths in children were rare but researchers aren't sure what the long-term effects of omicron infection will be yet.
