{"id":70221,"date":"2021-06-23T07:12:27","date_gmt":"2021-06-23T11:12:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=70221"},"modified":"2021-06-23T07:15:46","modified_gmt":"2021-06-23T11:15:46","slug":"children-should-not-be-vaccinated-who","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=70221","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Children Should Not Be Vaccinated\u2019 — WHO"},"content":{"rendered":"

WHO: \u2018Children Should Not Be Vaccinated for the Moment\u2019<\/strong><\/h1>\n

In updated guidance, the World Health Organization said children have milder disease compared to adults and there is not enough evidence to recommend vaccinating children against COVID.<\/em><\/h3>\n

By Megan Redshaw
\nThe Defender<\/p>\n

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The World Health Organization\u2019s (WHO) latest guidance<\/a> clarifying who should get the COVID vaccine states, \u201cChildren should not be vaccinated for the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the WHO website: \u201cThere is not yet enough evidence on the use of vaccines against COVID-19 in children to make recommendations for children to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Children and adolescents tend to have milder disease compared to adults.\u201d<\/p>\n

The WHO had previously said vaccinating children against COVID<\/a> was not a priority given the limited global supply of doses, Fox News reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

During a social media session<\/a> June 3, Dr. Kate O\u2019Brien, a pediatrician and director of the WHO\u2019s vaccines department, said children should not be a focus of COVID immunization programs, even as increasing numbers of wealthy countries authorize the shots for teens and children.<\/p>\n

\u201cChildren are at [a] very, very low risk of actually getting COVID disease,\u201d said O\u2019Brien. She said the rationale for immunizing children was to stop transmission rather than to protect them from getting sick or dying.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Brien added it wasn\u2019t necessary to vaccinate children before sending them back to school safely.<\/p>\n

\u201cImmunization of children in order to send them back to school is not the predominant requirement for them to go back to school safely,\u201d O\u2019Brien said<\/a>. \u201cThey can go back to school safely if what we\u2019re doing is immunizing those who are around them who are at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

The U.S., Canada and European Union have all given the green light to some COVID vaccines for children 12 to 15 years old. In the UK, a decision to vaccinate all 12- to 17-year-olds is unlikely to be recommended by experts anytime soon, BBC NEWS reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One argument<\/a> for not vaccinating children against COVID is they get relatively little benefit from it.<\/p>\n

\u201cFortunately one of the few good things about this pandemic is children are very rarely seriously affected by this infection,\u201d said Adam Finn, who sits on the UK\u2019s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.<\/p>\n

Infections in children are nearly always mild or asymptomatic, which is in sharp contrast to older age groups who have been prioritized by vaccination campaigns.<\/p>\n

A study across seven countries \u2014 including the U.S. \u2014 published in the Lancet<\/a>, found that fewer than two out of every 1 million children died with COVID during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Even children with medical conditions<\/a> that would raise the risks of COVID infection in adults are not being vaccinated in the UK. Only those at \u201cvery high risk of exposure and serious outcomes\u201d are recommended to be vaccinated.<\/p>\n

For kids, benefits of COVID vaccines don\u2019t outweigh risks<\/strong><\/p>\n

As The Defender reported<\/a>, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on June 10 held a meeting\u00a0 to discuss granting Emergency Use Authorization<\/a> (EUA) for COVID vaccines for children under 12. Numerous experts spoke out against the plan saying the benefits don\u2019t outweigh the risks for young children.<\/p>\n

Peter Doshi, Ph.D., associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy and senior editor of The BMJ, said during the open public hearing session<\/a> there is no emergency that would warrant using EUA to authorize COVID vaccines for children.<\/p>\n

Pointing to Pfizer\u2019s<\/a> trial of 12- to15-year-olds which supported the recent EUA, Doshi said the harms outweighed the benefits, and those who had the placebo were \u201cbetter off\u201d than those who received the vaccine.<\/p>\n

In terms of the benefits, Doshi said \u201cthe reported 100% efficacy in Pfizer\u2019s trial was based on 16 COVID cases in the placebo group versus none in the fully vaccinated group. But there were about 1,000 placebo recipients so just 2% got COVID. Put another way, 2% of the fully vaccinated avoided COVID, whereas 98% of the vaccinated wouldn\u2019t have gotten COVID anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the other side of the ledger, Doshi said, side effects were common:<\/p>\n

\u201cThree in 4 kids had fatigue and headaches, around half had chills and muscle pain, around 1 in 4 to 5 had fever and joint pain. The list goes on. In sum, all the fully vaccinated 12- to 15-year-olds avoided symptomatic COVID but most wouldn\u2019t have gotten COVID even without the vaccine. So, the benefit is small but it came at the price of side effects that were mild to moderate in severity and lasted a few days.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doshi pointed to data<\/a> from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showing 23% of 0- to 4-year-olds and 42% of 5- to17-year-olds have already had COVID and have robust natural immunity.<\/p>\n

Kim Witczak<\/a>, an FDA consumer representative, expressed great concerns over the premature approval of COVID vaccines for children. Witczak said data shows children are neither in danger or dangerous, and the growing evidence of harm caused by COVID vaccines should not be ignored.<\/p>\n

Witczak and Doshi were two of 27 researchers and clinicians around the world who launched a citizen\u2019s petition<\/a> demanding the FDA withhold full approval of COVID vaccines until efficacy and safety measures are met.<\/p>\n

Dr. Sidney Wolf<\/a>, founder and senior advisor of Health Research Group, also pointed out during the FDA meeting<\/a> that CDC data from Jan. 1 to March 31 showed<\/a> only 204 hospitalizations and 0 deaths in the 12- to17-year-old age group due to COVID.<\/p>\n

As The Defender reported<\/a> May 26, two papers recently published in the journal of Hospital Pediatrics, found pediatric hospitalizations for COVID were overcounted by at least 40%, carrying potential implications for nationwide figures used to justify vaccinating children<\/a>.<\/p>\n

COVID vaccine causing heart inflammation in teens<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr. Tom Shimabukuro, deputy director of the CDC\u2019s Immunization Safety Office, said during the June 10 FDA meeting<\/a>, \u201cthere are \u2018very few\u2019 reports of myocarditis or pericarditis in 12- to 15-year-olds who have been given coronavirus vaccines.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the CDC data Shimabukuro presented showed a higher-than-expected number of cases<\/a> of heart inflammation among young people recently vaccinated with their second doses of mRNA vaccine.<\/a> The agency identified 226 reports<\/a> that might meet the agency\u2019s \u201cworking case definition\u201d of myocarditis and pericarditis following the shots.<\/p>\n

Among 16- to 17-year-olds through May 31, 79 cases of myocarditis and pericarditis were reported. The expected rate among people in this age group is between two and 19 cases, Shimabukuro said during his presentation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

CDC data also showed<\/a> that among 18- to 24-year-olds, there were 196 reports of myocarditis and pericarditis. The expected rate is between eight and 83 cases.<\/p>\n

The CDC\u2019s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) scheduled an emergency meeting<\/a> for June 18 to update data and further evaluate myocarditis following vaccination with Pfizer and Moderna<\/a> vaccines. However, the CDC delayed the meeting<\/a> until the June 23-25 ACIP meeting in observation of the Juneteenth National Independence Day holiday. Register here<\/a> to watch Wednesday\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n

According to the latest data from VAERS<\/a>, there have been 1,117 cases<\/a> of myocarditis and pericarditis (heart inflammation) in all age groups reported in the U.S. following COVID vaccination between Dec.14, 2020 and June 11, 2021. Of those, 109 reports<\/a> occurred in children 12-to-17-years-old with 108 attributed<\/a> to Pfizer.<\/p>\n