Undaunted by the myocarditis risk apparent in children who received the COVID-19 vaccine, the FDA just approved the Pfizer booster under the emergency use authorization for children ages 5 to 11. What is the emergency? They claim that it is safe for children if they wait at least five months after the first two shots, despite evidence to the contrary.
The FDA cited the supposed emergency for approving this vaccine for emergency use was the omicron virus variant. The booster allegedly raises the antibodies in children ages 5 to 11 by 36-fold. That is 720 times. Suppose the children have a less than .01% chance of dying in the first place, and the vaccine is known to cause myocarditis in children. Why are we suggesting that they need a booster under an emergency use authorization act?
The FDA has expanded Pfizer’s emergency use authorization to allow boosters for 5-11 year olds. In Pfizer’s trial for this age range the placebo group had zero cases of severe disease. Their risk of hospitalization is already incredibly low. Where exactly is the “emergency”?
— alex gutentag (@galexybrane) May 17, 2022
They determined that these boosters were safe for children with a sample size of only 400 children. Scientifically, suppose you have a tiny and select pool of participants in your study. In that case, it isn’t seen as a valid study. It certainly isn’t accurate enough to recommend this vaccine to an entire country.
https://twitter.com/rfsquared/status/1526307146673053697?s=20&t=kFgMHfSufMjlhpj4CU9UGw
What is still questionable is whether these boosters provide any long-term immunity at all. Whereas we know that catching COVID naturally without the boosters does seem to confer immunity. A JAMA study found that in the winter, the vaccine’s effectiveness for 12 to 15-year-olds dropped to zero percent about three months after being vaccinated. Also, they were more likely to test positive for COVID by month 7. So why are we giving boosters for something that is extremely easy to get over for most children and has a meager death rate? But it has a real chance of severe disease if the person reacts badly to the vaccine.
This new JAMA study is worth discussing. It found that, this winter, vax effectiveness in 12-15 yos dropped to 0% after 3-5 months & vaccinated were MORE likely to test+ at month 7. May be confounded (see🧵)
But I don't see this as good reason for boostershttps://t.co/zpkIDdZhnn pic.twitter.com/bxAIDmiR8s— Tracy Høeg, MD, PhD (@TracyBethHoeg) May 14, 2022
Let’s not forget that whatever risks they face will be lifelong for this age group in particular. If you get your 5-year-old vaccinated and boosted, they can develop myocarditis. For the rest of their life, they will have heart problems. At the very least, they’ll have to see a cardiologist for the next 12 to 13 years, once a year. This with a vaccine that may or may not work and a disease that typically does not kill or maim children. What parent in their right mind would take this sort of risk for a perfectly healthy child against a condition that is a little worse than the flu? Does anyone even know anybody in the hospital with COVID anymore? When was the last time you heard of a child being hospitalized and vented for COVID-19?