The Centers for Disease Control and Infection ignored objections from medical experts and endorsed Covid vaccine shots for children between the ages of 5 and 11 on Tuesday. The CDC panel recommended that a smaller dosage be used for children and injections may begin as soon as Wednesday.
“A group of vaccine experts gathered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday recommended the use of a smaller dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in children ages 5-11, marking a key regulatory step to getting kids the shot,” U.S. News reported.
“The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted unanimously to recommend the Pfizer shot, which is one-third of the adult dosage, for children ages 5-11,” the report continued.
“Once CDC Director Rochelle Walensky signs off on the recommendation – a step that is widely anticipated – shots can be administered,” the report added. “The Biden administration says it has secured enough Pfizer doses to vaccinate all 28 million children in the age category.”
An FDA panel unanimously signed off on the Covid shots for children as young as five years old in late October, with one member abstaining. The FDA panel hearing became highly contentious over the adopted language and the belief the authorization would clear the way for unethical mandates.
Earlier in the discussion, James Hildreth, CEO of Meharry Medical College, said, “This is a really tough one. I do believe children at highest risk do need to be vaccinated, but vaccinating all the children to achieve that seems a bit much to me.”
Michael Kurilla, an NIH researcher, called it “ the toughest decision” and said he resented the “binary presentation” of the question. “But the panel may decide to clear the vaccine, and leave restrictions on the vaccine to the CDC’s ACIP committee,” Matthew Herper of Stat News reported.
The group then continued to pushback on the FDA’s strong-arming of the vote phrasing.
“Based on the totality of scientific evidence available, do the benefits of the Pfizer- BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine when administered as a 2-dose series (10 micrograms each dose, 3 weeks apart) outweigh its risks for use in children 5-11 years of age?”
“The answer is binary, as chair Arnold Monto has informed the group more than once,” Stat News noted. “They are to vote yes or no.”
“It’s clear some people on the committee think the vaccine should be available, but maybe isn’t something all children in this age group need it,” appeared to be the working consensus of many.
“Cody Meissner, at pediatrician at Tufts Medical Center, raised concerns that if the vaccine is authorized for this age group, school mandates will follow,” the report said. “Meissner said he opposes them.”
“Ofer Levy, director of Harvard Medical School’s Precision Vaccines Program, asked if the wording of the question could be changed to give the committee some leeway,” the minutes noted.
The public comments section of the meeting – one full hour – is where things got really heated. It begins about 4 hours and 32 minutes into the video below.
One of the most interesting and pointed objections to the sweeping recommendation that healthy children as young as five years old get the vaccines came from Dr. Jessica Rose.
Dr. Rose’s outstanding rebuttal can be viewed in full below following the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practicioners’ endorsement of the vaccines for children:
“Emergency use authorization of biological agents requires the existence of an emergency, and the non-existence of alternate treatments,” Dr. Rose said. “There is no emergency and Covid-19 is exceedingly treatable.”
However, the Food and Drug Administration followed the panel’s recommendation and rapidly granted emergency use authorization to Pfizer for its ‘vaccine.’
White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said that “within minutes of FDA’s authorization” the process began to move about 15 million doses from Pfizer facilities to distribution centers, U.S. News reported.
“Over the next couple of days, several million doses will start arriving at local pediatricians and family doctors’ offices, pharmacies, children’s hospitals, community health centers, rural health clinics and other locations,” Zients said on Monday.
The reported side effects of the Covid vaccinations will be closely watched across the country for reports of heart inflammation in children. Healthy children have an estimated Covid survival rate of 99.99995%.
**By Kyle Becker
**Source