California Sen. Alex Padilla and other officials held a virtual briefing Thursday to encourage parents to get their children vaccinated against COVID-19.
Padilla was joined by representatives from several children's hospitals across the state, including UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Oakland and Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford.
Padilla's office says almost 850,000 children 17 and under in California have contracted COVID-19, representing over 18% of all cases. About two-thirds of children between the ages of 5 and 11 and 28% of kids between the ages of 12 and 17 remain unvaccinated.
Meanwhile, Thursday is the deadline for health care workers in some states to get their first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine under the federal mandate issued by President Joe Biden.
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