UPDATE JANUARY 19, 2022:
DRG Media Group News and Farm asked the Department of Health if the second child had been vaccinated for COVID. Due to privacy laws, the department is not allowed to release the child’s vaccination status or the exact age of the child. The COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for ages 5 years old and up, so the infant was too young to have received a vaccine.
JANUARY 19, 2022:
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A second child younger than 10 years old has died after contracting the coronavirus in South Dakota. The state Health Department says the child was from Minnehaha County, which includes Sioux Falls. Department spokesman Daniel Bucheli says COVID-19 was “the underlying factor.” Bucheli said no further information would be made available. The first death was an infant under the age of 1 out of Pennington County. More than 12,892 children under age 10 have tested positive for the virus since the pandemic began in March 2020. The state confirmed 2,265 new and probable cases on Tuesday (Jan. 18, 2022), when active cases reached a record high for a fifth time. The overall total for deaths due to the virus stands at 2,560.
Was the child vaccinated? Let’s hear the whole story