The Risks and Benefits of Vaccinating Children for Covid-19

Correction (11/4/21): At 3:26, this video incorrectly states that “Pfizer is not supplying an RCT in its emergency use application for its Covid-19 vaccine” in children. This statement was based on two Pfizer press releases (September 20 and September 28) that announced “positive topline results from the pivotal trial” for this vaccine in young children and that Pfizer was submitting these results to the FDA to seek “authorization” for this age group. Both press releases said nothing about an RCT or placebo. Instead, they reported that the vaccine showed a “favorable safety profile” and “robust neutralizing antibody responses.”

A sure way to cause more tragic deaths is to adopt a “prevent at all costs” mentality to only one type of lethal threat without considering all of the others. Unlike dogmatists who do just that, this broadcast candidly discusses risks and benefits of vaccinating children for Covid-19.

SOURCES:

MSNBC segment on Covid-19 vaccines for children:
https://www.msnbc.com/transcripts/transcript-last-word-lawrence-o-donnell-10-8-21-n1281213

Risk of dying from Covid-19 by age (spreadsheet):
https://www.justfacts.com/reference/covid-19_deaths_ages.xls

Effects of lockdowns on children:
• General: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.625778/full
Mental health: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/european-psychiatry/article/years-of-life-lost-due-to-the-psychosocial-consequences-of-covid19-mitigation-strategies-based-on-swiss-data/B6BFC8BADF08FDD8350B01AAC6B22381
• Suicides: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7024e1.htm
• Education: https://www.pnas.org/content/118/17/e2022376118
• Obesity: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7037a3.htm

Association does not prove causation: https://www.justfacts.com/immigration#association_causation

The United Kingdom’s Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency explains that “all vaccines and medicines have some side effects,” and “these side effects need to be continuously balanced against the expected benefits in preventing illness.” https://web.archive.org/web/20211012071317/https:/www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting

Randomized controlled trials are the “gold standard” for clinical research: https://obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1471-0528.15199

Pfizer’s September 20 press release: https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-announce-positive-topline-results

Pfizer’s September 28 press release: https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-submit-initial-data-us-fda-pivotal

Antibodies are only one part of the human immune system: https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-medicine/fulltext/S2666-3791(21)00203-2

The most prominent known risks of Pfizer’s C-19 vaccine are heart inflammation conditions, and younger males are at a greater risk for this: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/clinical-considerations/myocarditis.html

The FDA’s approval summary for Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine explains that under a “worst-case” scenario, the risk of heart inflammation caused by the vaccine “would exceed Covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths” among males 16-17 years of age: https://www.justfacts.com/document/pfizer_covid-19_vaccine_approval_summary_fda_2021.pdf#page=24