Health Affairs March 4, 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare long-standing challenges and inequities in the US health care system. Much focus has been placed on the pandemic’s disproportionate toll on older adults, those with chronic conditions, and communities of color. Recent American Academy of Pediatrics data, however, show that as of December 31, 2020, 2.13 million children and youth have been infected by COVID-19, and children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN) and those with complex conditions are at greatest risk for negative outcomes. In September 2020 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 75 percent of youth who died from COVID-19 had one or more underlying medical conditions. Nearly 80 percent of all child deaths were among Black,...