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How young Aussies could get life-changing conditions from Covid including a permanently lower IQ - as heartbroken mum of infected boy, 7, stuck in hospital issues a warning every parent should hear as Delta keeps spreading among children and teens

The mother of a coronavirus-infected seven-year-old boy in hospital is warning parents across Australia about the frightening impact the Indian Delta variant of Covid-19 is having on children and teens.

While the original strain of the virus seemed to have little effect on children and teenagers, more and more young Australians are being hit hard by crippling symptoms - with four teens admitted to ICU last week alone. 

Many young people are suffering long-term symptoms of the virus, with some left learning how to walk again and others even permanently dropping IQ points after the virus destroyed grey matter in the brain.

Young Australian Zen celebrated his latest birthday while being treated at the Gold Coast University Hospital with his mother Sandra, after he was recently struck down 'out of the blue' by the respiratory virus.

Sandra said she was in shock when she discovered that her child had become one of the 1,000 kids across Australia who have tested positive in just the past two months.

Of the 58 patients in ICU in Sydney, five are in their 20s, seven in their 30s and four in their 40s, with only of the cases having had even a single shot of a vaccine. 

More and more young Australians are suffering badly with Covid-19, with five in their 20s currently in ICU in Sydney (pictured, friends in Melbourne's lockdown on Sunday)

More and more young Australians are suffering badly with Covid-19, with five in their 20s currently in ICU in Sydney (pictured, friends in Melbourne's lockdown on Sunday)

Fears the virus is laying waste to unvaccinated young Australians comes as new figures revealed New South Wales and Victoria had a stockpile of one million unused AstraZeneca vaccines thanks to worryingly low demand.

'I never thought it was going to happen to us. We took every precaution we could,' Zen's mother told 60 Minutes.

'Queensland seemed to be one of the safest places around so when this happened it was just out of the blue for us. I thought it was a prank call from the health department.

'I know kids can get sick, I just, it just didn't feel like it was coming for us.'

Doctors held grave fears for Zen, who suffers from asthma, but so far he's been able to battle through the potentially deadly virus relatively unscathed as he remains in isolation for a period of 14 days. 

The brave youngster said he felt, 'just a little bit sick with a little snotty nose'. 

He revealed that he misses his dad 'very much' and didn't do much on his birthday because he was 'stuck in a tiny room but got heaps of presents'.

Sandra, who also returned a positive test despite being fully vaccinated, is now urging Australians protect their children by doing 'the right thing' and following health orders.

Irish teenager Jack Edge, 18, is learning to walk again after suffering badly with Covid-19. He had to breathe through a ventilator while battling the virus in ICU for 11 days

Irish teenager Jack Edge, 18, is learning to walk again after suffering badly with Covid-19. He had to breathe through a ventilator while battling the virus in ICU for 11 days

Young Zen celebrated his latest birthday while being treated at the Gold Coast University Hospital with his mother Sandra, after he was recently struck down 'out of the blue' by the respiratory virus (pictured together)

Young Zen celebrated his latest birthday while being treated at the Gold Coast University Hospital with his mother Sandra, after he was recently struck down 'out of the blue' by the respiratory virus (pictured together)

'This is serious and we are still not clear, even if right now we don't have any symptoms, that could turn at any point. So, we are just hoping for the best, but this could turn really bad as well,' she said.

In the early stages of the pandemic children were far less likely to become infected but now with the highly transmissible Indian Delta variant, school-aged children are directly in the firing line and particularly vulnerable, as the majority are not eligible to get vaccinated.

'Most of us have been surprised about the swing towards children and the fact that we are having these outbreaks in school right across Australia,' said Doctor John Gerrard, who has treated Zen at the Gold Coast University Hospital.

'I see the fact that this disease is an indicator that this virus is becoming more virulent across all ages.'

Young Australians were thought to be relatively unscathed by Covid, but more and more are getting seriously ill (pictured, women embrace in locked-down Melbourne on Sunday)

Young Australians were thought to be relatively unscathed by Covid, but more and more are getting seriously ill (pictured, women embrace in locked-down Melbourne on Sunday)

Zen (pictured in hospital) revealed that he misses his dad 'very much' and didn't do much on his birthday because he was 'stuck in a tiny room but we got heaps of presents'

Zen (pictured in hospital) revealed that he misses his dad 'very much' and didn't do much on his birthday because he was 'stuck in a tiny room but we got heaps of presents'

Four teenagers in just the past week have had to be treated in intensive care in Australia, with one of them requiring a ventilator to stay alive.

It comes as worrying new research from the UK has discovered that even after someone has tested negative to the debilitating illness, many frightening effects can still linger - including a permanent drop in IQ levels.

'What we found essentially is that people who had Covid-19 were performing less well than we would expect on measures of cognitive ability or intelligence,' Dr Adam Hampshire from the Imperial College London said.

'The degree to which people who suffered at the more severe end of the illness spectrum underperformed to the equivalent of around about seven IQ points.

'It's a worrying picture that's emerging.'

Four teenagers in just the past week have had to be treated in intensive care in Australia, with one of them requiring a ventilator to stay alive (pictured, young women walk in Melbourne on Sunday)

Four teenagers in just the past week have had to be treated in intensive care in Australia, with one of them requiring a ventilator to stay alive (pictured, young women walk in Melbourne on Sunday)

A nurse at the Lebanese Muslim Association in the Sydney suburb of Lakemba administers a Covid jab to a young man on Sunday (pictured) amid fears the virus will have serious long-term health impacts on the young

A nurse at the Lebanese Muslim Association in the Sydney suburb of Lakemba administers a Covid jab to a young man on Sunday amid fears the virus will have serious long-term health impacts on the young

With a further 262 locally acquired cases in New South Wales on Sunday bringing the total number of infections during the current outbreak to 10,728, the alarm bells have been sounding for young people in the Premier's office.

Gladys Berejiklian controversially moved this week to divert 40,000 Covid jabs from regional areas to vaccinate students in Sydney hotspots preparing to undergo their end of year exams incoming weeks.

While many Australians in regional areas are up in arms about having their vaccine appointments cancelled and handed over to Year 12 students instead, the government says the initiative is necessary to protect young people in high-risk areas across Sydney's west and southwest.

'When you consider there are eight million people in NSW, and we have been able to stop the spread of the virus in our regions and other parts of Sydney,' she said.

A long queue of people are seen outside Sydney's Olympic Park vaccination centre on Sunday (pictured) as authorities plead with more young people to get jabbed

A long queue of people are seen outside Sydney's Olympic Park vaccination centre on Sunday as authorities plead with more young people to get jabbed

'It is important for us to give those Year 12 students a chance to finish their exams and get rewarded.

'We know that we are finding younger people are getting the virus and spreading it. It is important particularly for younger people, people up to the 30s in particular, to get access to the vaccine as soon as possible.

Irish teenager Jack Edge, 18, who is still suffering from the debilitating aftermath of Covid wishes he had access to the vaccine when he contracted the virus over a year ago.

He's now re-learning how to walk and says he still carries severe physiological scars like from the virus.

'I deteriorated really, really, fast and I was put into the ICU on a ventilator which is where I was for 11 days,' he told the Channel Nine program.

Health workers are seen testing in Sydney's west (pictured) with many of the new cases being among those under 30

Health workers are seen testing in Sydney's west with many of the new cases being among those under 30

'I have mobility issues due to the nerve damage in my feet. I have to take medication and have a lot of mental health issues regarding traumatic experiences and PTSD.

'And there is no guarantee I will ever get my full mobility back at all, which is obviously very difficult.'

The push to vaccinate young Australians come as a report emerged that NSW and Victoria had a stockpile of more than one million unwanted AstraZeneca vaccines.

The surplus prompted the Victorian government to announce that people as young as 18 can now go to nine vaccination hubs to get one of 200,000 doses of the AstraZeneca jab. 

The bungled rollout has also left Prime Minister Scott Morrison suffering a new low in the polls, with support for his handling for the Covid crisis nearly halving since last year.

While in April 2020 85 per cent approved of his pandemic leadership, this has plummeted to just 48 per cent, according to the latest Newspoll. 

HOW LIKELY ARE YOU TO GET COVID-19 AFTER BEING FULLY VACCINATED?

So-called 'breakthrough' COVID-19 cases occur when people contract the disease 14 days or more after receiving their second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine or the Johnson & Johnson one-shot jab.

Clinical trials have shown that Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine is 95% effective in preventing symptomatic disease and the Moderna vaccine is 94.5% effective.

Meanwhile, real-world data showed the Pfizer jab is 91% effective against all disease for at least six months and the Moderna vaccine is 90% effective.

This means that fully vaccinated people are between 90% and 95% less likely to develop COVID-19 than unvaccinated people.

In addition, Johnson & Johnson's vaccine trials showed 72% efficacy in the U.S., meaning those who got the one-shot jab are 72% less likely to contract the disease.

When comparing fully vaccinated people who did and did not get sick, the risk is even lower.

The most recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show that 10,262 of at least 133 million Americans who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 later contracted the disease.

This translates to 0.00716% of people who have completed their vaccine series have gone on to test positive.

It also represents the true odds of getting COVID-19 after full vaccination: less than 0.01%.

What's more, fully vaccinated people who test positive have mild illnesses, and are very unlikely to be hospitalized or die.

The CDC states that 99.5% of all deaths occur in unvaccinated people.

That means, if the figure applies to the 3,165 Americans who've died in July 2021 so far - as of July 13 - about 3,150 deaths would be among unvaccinated people and 15 deaths among fully vaccinated people.

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HOW LIKELY ARE YOU TO GET COVID-19 AFTER BEING FULLY VACCINATED?

So-called 'breakthrough' COVID-19 cases occur when people contract the disease 14 days or more after receiving their second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine or the Johnson & Johnson one-shot jab.

Clinical trials have shown that Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine is 95% effective in preventing symptomatic disease and the Moderna vaccine is 94.5% effective.

Meanwhile, real-world data showed the Pfizer jab is 91% effective against all disease for at least six months and the Moderna vaccine is 90% effective.

This means that fully vaccinated people are between 90% and 95% less likely to develop COVID-19 than unvaccinated people.

In addition, Johnson & Johnson's vaccine trials showed 72% efficacy in the U.S., meaning those who got the one-shot jab are 72% less likely to contract the disease.

When comparing fully vaccinated people who did and did not get sick, the risk is even lower.

The most recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show that 10,262 of at least 133 million Americans who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 later contracted the disease.

This translates to 0.00716% of people who have completed their vaccine series have gone on to test positive.

It also represents the true odds of getting COVID-19 after full vaccination: less than 0.01%.

What's more, fully vaccinated people who test positive have mild illnesses, and are very unlikely to be hospitalized or die.

The CDC states that 99.5% of all deaths occur in unvaccinated people.

That means, if the figure applies to the 3,165 Americans who've died in July 2021 so far - as of July 13 - about 3,150 deaths would be among unvaccinated people and 15 deaths among fully vaccinated people.

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