Afternoon with Grammys. Birthday party. Meet other toddlers in the park. Due to the surge in COVID-19 cases caused by the omicron mutation, every encounter seems to be risky, so parents of children who cannot be vaccinated are facing difficult choices.

For Erin Connolly, a Maine business owner, the most painful decision involved Madeleine, her 3-year-old daughter, and Connolly’s mother. She did not attend preschool one day a week to take care of this girl.

This is precious time for making cookies, going to the library or just hanging out. But this energetic little girl refused to wear a mask, and as this highly contagious variant spread at a crazy rate, Connolly said she wanted to know how long this situation could last, “when did it feel too insecure? .”

Connolly, from Sebastian, said that she has concerns about Madeleine and her 6-year-old vaccinated son being infected with the virus, rather than the impact of illness and separation on grandparents. But she is also worried that her vaccinated parents have contracted breakthrough cases.

Although health experts say that omicron seems to cause less disease and fewer hospitalizations, its rapid spread suggests that it is more contagious than other variants. According to data from the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 718,000 COVID cases were reported on Tuesday. Omicron is currently the culprit in more than 90% of cases in the United States, a dizzying increase from less than 10% two weeks ago.

Dr. Anthony Fauci said at a White House briefing on Wednesday: “Because of its highly contagious nature, the large number of infections means that more children will be infected.”

According to a report by the American Academy of Pediatrics and Children’s Hospital Association, in the last two weeks of December, the number of COVID cases in children and adolescents in the United States nearly doubled, reaching nearly 326,000 in the last week alone.

The surge driven by omicron has also brought the number of children admitted to the hospital to a record high: during the week from December 27, 2021 to January 2, 2022, an average of 672 children aged 17 and under were admitted to the hospital every day due to the coronavirus — compared with the previous week More than doubled. However, children still account for only a small percentage of the hospitalized population.

Fauci, a top US infectious disease doctor, said that having vaccinated adults accompanying children is a way to prevent them from contracting the virus. Health officials also reiterated that masks can prevent transmission, and that wearing masks on children 2 years and older in public and group settings can help ensure their safety.

On Tuesday morning, 39-year-old Connolly and her mother had a difficult conversation about this plight.

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“Will Madeleine be masked?” her mother asked. “I said,’We are working hard, but I don’t know if she will do it,'” Connolly recalled. “I said,’Does this mean that Thursday’s Grammy will be over?” She said, “I’m not sure yet,” Connolly said with tears.

When Pfizer announced last month that two doses of the vaccine were not as effective as expected for the protection of children aged 2 to 4 years old, parents who had hoped to bring COVID vaccine to their young children in the new year suffered setbacks.

A Pfizer scientist told U.S. officials on Wednesday that Pfizer’s research has been updated to provide a third dose for everyone under 5 years of age. The data is expected to be released around the end of March or early April.

Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, director of the Pfizer vaccine research at Stanford University for children under 12, said the researchers were disappointed by this setback.

Maldonado said that she understands the frustration of parents with children, but she advises them to avoid unnecessary travel during the current surge, and to ensure that their daycare centers, kindergartens and other care providers need to wear masks and take other measures. Suggested precautions.

Watching the spread of omicron, Honolulu resident Jacob Aki is considering giving up his first birthday party for his 10-month-old son. Celebrating this milestone is important in his native Hawaiian culture. This tradition originated in a period before the measles vaccine was introduced, when reaching a person’s first birthday was a feat. The family also cancelled their plans to experience snow in Canada. At the same time, every cough and sniffle can cause anxiety.

“Infants usually get sick at this age,” Aki said. “But for everything related to COVID… the anxiety level is high.”

Heather Cimellaro, a technology teacher from Auburn, Maine, said she is more worried than ever about keeping her 3-year-old identical twin boys healthy. A person has medical problems due to premature birth, and the whole family regularly visits a specialist in Boston.

“COVID will really disrupt these plans,” Cimellaro said.

Cimellaro, 33, said that omicron is reconsidering running errands with twins, visiting library story time, and even the kindergarten in the elderly health center. She is worried that the boys will catch COVID and spread it to their “big friends”.

“Just worried a lot:’Am I doing it right?” she said. “That’s it. I am not an epidemiologist. I don’t know how dangerous this is for them. So this is a bit like a debate between me and me. “

Erin Stanley of Berrien Springs, Michigan, said that in order to protect their 3-year-old son Ralph, she and her husband reduced their social lives because of omicron. They were both vaccinated and reinforced, but they were worried that Ralph would get sick and spread the disease to his cousin, preschool classmates, grandparents, and beloved great-grandmother.

They did not see their great-grandmother during Christmas, nor did they spend the holidays with other relatives.

“It’s frustrating,” Stanley said. “We all really want to do this. It seems risky.”

Stanley, 35, is a chef on a popular organic farm and used to go shopping at Ralph’s grocery store. This is a trip he is looking forward to. This is one of his few social activities outside of preschool. But she said that few shoppers wear masks, which now seems too risky.

This shy little boy has recently experienced 3 panic attacks and 3 COVID test negatives.

“It was really painful for him to take the swab test,” Stanley said, adding that “virus” and “swab” are now part of his vocabulary.

“He kept saying,’I don’t want to take a cotton swab!'” she said. “If there is a vaccine against him, we will definitely get it.”