Children's Health

A doctor loads a dose of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine into a syringe, on Dec. 2, 2021, at a mobile vaccination clinic in Worcester, Mass.

CDC recommends Pfizer COVID booster for kids as young as 12

10:13pm January 05, 2022

by Jonathan Franklin

The new recommendation for adolescents age 12-17 came hours after a panel of CDC advisers voted in favor of it. The boosters should be given five months after initial immunization.

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona discusses the push to keep schools open

5:07pm January 05, 2022

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Education Secretary Miguel Cardona about the omicron surge and the administration's push to keep schools open.

Advisers to the CDC say kids as young as 12 should get COVID booster shots

5:07pm January 05, 2022

by Pien Huang

Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say kids as young as 12 should get booster shots. This endorsement clears the way for the CDC to approve boosters for kids between 12 and 15.

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The number of kids being admitted to hospitals for COVID continues to rise

5:04pm January 04, 2022

by Allison Aubrey

COVID hospitalizations among children have increased 97% over the last week to 575 admissions per day. Infectious disease experts talk about treating children with omicron and who is most at-risk.

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Some corporations are opening up their doors to providing more support for child care.

Child care is getting more support from some private companies

8:00am January 04, 2022

by Camila Beiner

Some corporations are trying harder to help provide child care for families.

How schools are preparing to reopen as COVID-19 rages on

8:06am January 01, 2022

by David Gura

David Gura speaks with Wall Street Journal reporter Douglas Belkin about whether schools across the country are planning to continue in-person or go remote at the end of their holiday breaks.

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Health & Safety

What the current COVID-19 surge is doing to children

5:05am December 31, 2021

The latest COVID-19 surge is putting kids in the hospital in record numbers. NPR's Steve Inskeep speaks with Dr. Claudia Hoyen, an expert in pediatric infection in Cleveland, Ohio.

Yaritza Martinez developed a Zika virus infection in 2016 when she was pregnant with her son Yariel, who is now 5 years old. Yariel is enrolled in a long-term study following a group of babies in the U.S. and in Colombia to see how they have been developi

Health & Safety

5 years later, researchers assess how children exposed to Zika are developing

6:10pm December 27, 2021

by Selena Simmons-Duffin

Subtle developmental differences in children whose brains seemed normal at birth underscore the need to follow children long term — a lesson that may be key for babies exposed to COVID-19.

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New York officials warn of a rise in the number of kids being hospitalized for COVID

4:58pm December 27, 2021

by Brian Mann

New York state officials are saying the total number of kids in hospital because of COVID has surged nearly over the last two weeks as the omicron wave grows.

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Daisy Hohman was separated from her three children for 20 months when they were placed in foster care. When Hohman was reunited with her children, she received a bill of nearly $20,000 for foster care from her Minnesota county.

States send kids to foster care and their parents the bill — often one too big to pay

4:35pm December 27, 2021

In every state, governments charge parents for the cost of foster care when children are taken away. When that happens, NPR found, poor parents can't make ends meet, so families are kept apart longer.