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Mississippi suffers its first child death due to COVID-19 this year

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by
Lacey Alexander
• Published on • Comments
State Epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers, right, listens to Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, left, at a news briefing, Aug. 24, 2021, in Jackson, Miss. The state's Department of Health said Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023, that the 14th Mississippi child has died from COVID-19.
AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File
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Mississippi's department of health announced on Wednesday that a child under the age of one had died from the virus.

Lacey Alexander

Mississippi suffers its first child death due to COVID-19 this year

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The victim was the 14th child in the state to die of COVID since 2020. 8 of those 14 children were between the ages of 11 and 17.

Dr. Geri Weiland is a pediatrician in Vicksburg. She says that the amount of children contracting COVID is likely higher than data suggests.

"Young healthy children are getting this," she said. "As a matter of fact... a lot of people are getting tested with the home test, and those don't get reported."

Vaccines are available to the public, but only to persons over 6 months of age. Dr. Anita Henderson is a pediatrician in Hattiesburg. She says those who can get vaccinated should do so to best protect those that can't.

"What I suggest to parents, grandparents, anyone that has a baby... that the adults that are going to be around that baby are up to date on their own vaccines."

Both doctors say that infants are especially susceptible to respiratory illnesses like COVID and RSV.