Mitigating the Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic Response on At-Risk Children

Although children are not at the highest risk for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)1 severe illness, necessary pandemic public health measures will have unintended consequences for the health and well-being of the nation's at-risk children. School closures, social distancing, reduction in health care services (eg, canceling nonurgent health care visits), and ubiquitous public health messaging are just some of the measures intended to slow the COVID-19 spread. Here, we (1) highlight the health risks of the pandemic response measures to vulnerable pediatric subpopulations and (2) propose risk mitigation strategies that can be enacted by policy makers, health care providers and systems, and communities (Table 1). The selected risks and proposed mitigation strategies are based on existing evidence and opinions of expert stakeholders, including clinicians, academicians, frontline service providers (eg, social workers), and public health leaders.