evidence: A new study on COVID-19's effects on US infants notes that the proportion of hospitalized babies of mothers vaccinated during pregnancy plunged from 18% in October 2023 to 4% in April 2024, underscoring the need for increased vaccine uptake. [...] Of 1,065 infants with known maternal vaccination status, 87.5% of moms had no documentation of COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy. The proportion of hospitalized infants whose mothers had received COVID-19 vaccines during pregnancy was 17.6% in 2022-23, falling to 4.3% in 2023-24. [...] "To protect young infants from severe COVID-19–associated outcomes, prevention should focus on vaccination of pregnant persons, which protects infants through transplacental transfer of antibodies, and nonpharmaceutical interventions, such as hand hygiene and avoiding exposure to persons with respiratory illness signs and symptoms," the researchers wrote.