This is a very easy trap to fall into - both on your own and when guided to it.
Assuming children here means under 18 as the article never mentions a specific range, then the population size as of 2020 was about 73 million [0]. That means we're talking about the difference between 1.2% of children and 0.08% of children.
In terms of national impact, that's pretty significant. But in terms of your individual lived experience, I have doubts. I've already spent too much time looking for relatable events with a similar probability so I'm going to stop here, but I don't think most people are that clued in about kids to seriously expect to notice this kind of difference in their life.
Unless you count reading/watching the media as part of your life experience, I don't think most people would notice a difference here.
[0]https://www.childstats.gov/americaschildren/tables/pop1.asp
Just a nitpick, but I'd be really careful to generalize like this. The lived experiences of the pandemic are radically different between people. For some, it is very personal and immediate - if they have close friend or relatives who are affected or if they work in a profession, where they frequently whitness infections.
Others may be lucky and may not have experienced the actual pandemic at all, only the effects of the countermeasures.
All that makes it hard for a random person to instantly dismiss most figures like the one in the article as implausible, if you're not specifically keeping track of the development or are working in the field. I think this is one of the reasons why covid misinformation can grab a hold so easily.