hospitals. nearly 1 in 4 nationwide now reporting critical staffing shortages, federal data shows, while covid hospitalization numbers near the pandemic's all-time high. >> among unvaccinated people and among unboosted high-risk people, it is putting a big strain. and given how much infection there is, our hospitals really are at the brink right now. >> reporter: for children, average daily hospitalizations are well above any pandemic peak we've seen before. >> for those children not eligible for vaccination, we do know that they are most likely to get sick with covid if their family members aren't vaccinated. >> reporter: amid a shortage of covid tests nationwide, some testing labs report they're already overburdened. universities from washington state to north carolina prioritizing who gets tested. >> if you look what's happening across the east coast, new york city, washington, d.c., maryland, probably florida as well, have already peaked. maybe delaware and rhode island. you'll start to see that in the statistics this week. you'll see those curves, those epidemic curves bend down.