BONNEVILLE COUNTY, Idaho — Idaho marked another death of a child from COVID-19 on Tuesday, the second fatality in someone under 18 since the pandemic began.
The boy who died was from Bonneville County and between the ages of 13 and 17, according to Eastern Idaho Public Health. His name and exact age have not been released.
The state's first COVID-19 child death, an infant from southwest Idaho, came in October.
Deaths and serious illness from COVID-19 are rarer in children than in adults, but more than 1,000 children have died from COVID-19 nationwide, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
By contrast, more than 4,400 adults have died in Idaho and more than 890,000 nationwide since the beginning of the pandemic.
A vaccine against COVID-19 has been approved for children as young as 5, and health officials have urged everyone to get vaccinated. However, according to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, only 13% of those 5-11 are vaccinated. In older children, 36% of 12-15 year-olds are fully vaccinated, while 41% of 16- and 17-year-olds are vaccinated.
Officials have not released whether the teen who died had been vaccinated.
At KTVB, we’re focusing our news coverage on the facts and not the fear around the virus. To see our full coverage, visit our coronavirus section, here: www.ktvb.com/coronavirus.
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