WASHINGTON - The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged parents to get their children 12 and older vaccinated against COVID-19, pointing to an increase in hospitalization rates among the age group — including some who required intensive care. "I am deeply concerned by the numbers of hospitalized adolescents and saddened to see the number of adolescents who required treatment in intensive care units or mechanical ventilation," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said in a statement Friday. "Much of this suffering can be prevented."Walensky issued the statement alongside a study released that analyzed COVID-19 hospitalization rates among those between the ages of 12 and 17.