Reported cases of COVID-19 remain steady in Tate County as Mississippi health officials reported another pediatric death due to coronavirus.
The child was between one and five years old, according to the Mississippi State Department of Health. A total of 11 children have died of COVID-19 since the pandemic began in March 2020. One of those deaths was a child under the age of one. Three were children between one and five. One death was a child between six and 10, and six deaths were children between ages 11 and 17.
MSDH officials do not release the exact ages or locations of the children for protection of privacy purposes.
Tate County has reported 730 cases of COVID-19 and six virus-related deaths since Jan. 20. A total of 189 cases and four deaths were recorded locally from Jan. 26 through Feb. 2.
Children under the age of five are currently not eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, but state health officials urged parents of children who are old enough to be vaccinated to act now if their children are not already vaccinated.
“If your child is too young for vaccination, be sure that you and others in your household are vaccinated in order to protect younger children from possible COVID-19 exposure,” Mississippi State Department of Health officials wrote on social media. “Vaccination greatly reduces the risk of severe illness in children and adults.”
As of Monday, Jan. 31, fifty percent of the total Mississippi population has been fully vaccinated, below the U.S. average of 64 percent. In Tate County, 46 percent of the population has received at least one dose of the vaccine, while 42 percent is fully vaccinated.
