Study finds kids were at low risk of severe COVID-19 early in pandemic, before Delta

MONTREAL -- A new study has found that severe cases of COVID-19 were very rare among Canadian children during the first waves of the pandemic.

But researchers warn the findings should not be taken as a reason not to vaccinate youth.

The study was published today by the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

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It looked at 264 reported cases of children hospitalized in Canada between March 25th and December 31st of last year -- before the more infectious Delta variant emerged.

Of those cases, researchers found that 43 per cent had been hospitalized for another reason -- such as a fracture -- and it was only after they were admitted that the positive COVID test came to light.

Overall, nearly 34-thousand Canadians of all ages were hospitalized during the same time frame.

But even with the encouraging conclusions, the study's co-lead author hopes it does not give parents a false sense of security.

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  A health worker takes a nasal swab sample of a child to test for COVID-19 during a door to door testing drive in Gauhati, India, Friday, June 4, 2021. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)