Posted on 12/15/2021 7:21:50 AM PST by Heartlander
At this point, I think it is clear: many pandemic experts hurt children.
School closure was the greatest self inflicted wound of the pandemic. Sensible European nations did not close primary school at all, or only for 6 weeks, but places in the USA remained closed for more than a year. This was a net negative for the health and well-being of children, and will damage this nation for years to come. I am not sure we will recover.
This decision was made only in some places in the USA, and not others, and was not explained by virus specific properties— it had no correlation with cases/100k or hospitalizations per capita—but solely the political valence of a region/ strength of teachers unions. When the history books are written, school closure will be viewed, as I have said before: a massively catastrophic and harmful blunder that was fueled by mis-information from the legacy media, and many pundits who lacked experience adjudicating trade-offs.
But the experts did not stop with closure. To this day, children suffer some of the harshest restrictions. In many parts of the USA, including school districts in California, school kids must wear cloth masks inside and outside (Nov 2021). During recess, and in inclement weather (rain). In some locations, they must eat lunch outside, in a hurry (time limits), or in the cold.
Cloth masks failed to work in the Bangladesh cluster RCT in adults. Their effect size among kids is certainly less than 0% benefit seen in adults. Outdoor spread of sars-cov-2 is very low in adults, and vanishingly rare in children. For these reasons, making kids wear cloth masks outdoors is a cruel policy that may only sate adult anxieties. It is not evidence based, and, in fact, counter to evidence and common sense.
The experts in the USA pushed this issue further. Against the advice of the World Health Organization and UNICEF, our expert bodies (AAP & CDC) advocated for cloth masking (an ineffective mask per Bangladesh RCT) in kids as young as 2. This decision defied all pre-pandemic guidance, all available evidence, and basic common sense. To date, this recommendation continues, and this policy has led to mandatory masking of toddlers in many daycare settings for hours on end.
The regulatory standards for vaccine authorization were made easy for kids 5 to 11. A randomized trial was run, but underpowered to show a reduction in severe events. It was also incapable of showing rates of adverse events due to low sample size. Despite the granting of EUA however, there was no off-ramp to prolonged mask mandates for kids (indoors or outdoors), and these restrictions continued.
After we approved vaccines for adolescents (12-15) under the auspices of the EUA (emergency use authorization), school districts like Los Angeles, which were closed for a year, decided to exclude any child who did not comply in a short period of time. This coercion risked excluding poor, minority children from public education, or required them to receive 2 doses in short time interval, which increased their risk of myocarditis. The policy was needlessly cruel and regressive.
Some have claimed that our policies to children reflect “following the science.” They do not. There is no science to support primary school closure. No science supported prolonged (>1 year) closure for any age. No science supported outdoor cloth mask mandates for young kids, and no science supported deviating from the WHO guidance. These policies meanwhile have devastating consequences for the well-being of children.
Meanwhile, adult hypocrisy was rampant, as adults routinely met in bars, nightclubs, music venues, and private parties without masking. Many of the same adults who pushed strongly for draconian restrictions on kids, hypocritically violated those restrictions themselves.
If someone reads this a hundred years from now, I want to say that I am sorry. I am sorry that no organization rose to defend the interests of children. I am sorry that I personally did not do more to criticize these draconian, irrational mandates, though I did, as much as I felt I could, and as soon and as consistent as I felt I could. Many of us recognized these errors as they happened, but could not stop them, and I am sorry we failed you.
“Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one.” – Charles Mackay
Good article
The Demonicrats murder children of the womb. The Demonicrats don’t care about children in the school except to brainwash their minds with leftist filth.
I thought it would be helpful to post the author’s bona fides.
Vinay Prasad MD MPH is a hematologist-oncologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California San Francisco
They do it because they’re allowed to. Pure and simple.
Name me one Governor, other than DeSantis I’m thinking, that has brought in doctors and researchers to discuss what the hell is going on? President Trump did it with some Front Line doctors and the media tried taking him to task. They found their mark with the African doctor, who did seem a bit off, and keyed in on her as if she was some witch doctor. Imagine if the parties were reversed and the Republican’s did the same to someone brought in by CornPop.
But, at the end, trying to get through a campaign, an impeachment, 4 years of obstacles by Republicans and Democrats, still accomplishing many great things, President Trump had to rely on the experts, Fauci and Birx. He didn’t have the wiggle room for anything else.
Omicron.....reported to have mild symptoms, like a mild flu. From the articles I’ve read, almost everyone that has it, is vaccinated. If it’s that mild, no telling how many people have it or had it. In a complete lockdown country like Australia, how did it show up there?
Toss in the fact that a sizable portion of the medical community is bought and paid for by the drug companies, it seems like every Liberal in the country is a blind sheep willing to follow Fauci off a cliff, and folks living in abject fear.
Most people have zero problem telling someone how crappy a mechanic, plumber, hair dresser, real estate agent is. All experts in their fields. But, nary a few will question anything a doctor says. Except the ones that second opinions and discovered that their first doctors was a moron.
How many doctors have been and continue to be, completely silenced and deplatformed for their views on covid and the treatments, just because they run counter to Fauci and Gates’ narrative? How many doctors across the country have been successfully treating people with $3 worth of drugs and the only way we hear about them is word of mouth, text messages and FB Messenger?
Just think....Last year there were less than 1700 flu cases reported in the US. It’s been determined that the PCR is not only unreliable, it cannot differentiate between the flu and covid.
Apparently, in the very fine print on the CDC site, they admit that over 9000 have died after getting the shots. When prior to that, less than 1000 died from all other vaccines combined. Oh wait, the shots aren’t a vaccine, they’re a preventative that doesn’t prevent anything.
The response depends upon the state and local health departments. My wife has been teaching all year at a private school. They are following protocols prescribed by NY State. Students and faculty are tested for a fever and they get further testing as needed and precribes by the Department of Health. Some students have had covid this year. All have recovered and the teaching staff helps the students catch up after an absence.
IF you wish to DEPOPULATE the world, you have to kill or sterilize a great many persons of ALL ages.
Agree it was senseless.
Might be some positives.
Parents discovered what was going on in classroom and became more involved in school board meetings.
Maybe there is a reason that Christ said in the last days children will rise up against her parents and close them to be put to death.
The local schools closed down here and still are only half time. As if half time makes a difference but of course that is for the lazy teachers. The senior class was hit hard by the closures. I am active with some of the programs for industrial arts. There were dozens of students set to go to competitions and get scholarship prizes and show off to colleges. BUT... All shut down. All the shop classes, welding, metal, auto, All shut down. Sorry if you wanted to be a welder or a mechanic, it’s for your own good. There use to be a good pipeline from the high schools to the manufacturing companies. Not anymore. Lets go Brandon
”Experts”. There’s your problem right there.
I believe the “lock-downs” last year were more about the election and setting up the world to accept the vaccines ($$$$$).
They (including the GOPe uniparty) had to defeat Trump at all costs so they needed mail-in ballots and election chaos.
They had to make the virus scary enough that people would want the shot.
It worked. It often does. Remember the election cycles where they told us Republicans would starve children with no school lunches and kick grandma out on the street?
Why do they wish to continue lockdown policies? Name a “government program” that the democrats ended. Just one. It’s basically a government program now. They are passing out cheese to corporate hospitals, big pharma, and voters.
Why do they wish to continue the fear porn about the virus? They got to sell more shots but they like handing out money and Covid is big money.
They were so hyperbolic last year that many of them believe what they were told and what experts like Joy Reid, Nicole Wallace, and Don Lemon told them.
The globalist uniparty won.
Big pharma won.
We lost. Absent a revitalized and aggressive GOP who takes back power next year we will win the election but lose the war (again).
Oh Jesus knows the end from the beginning...no one is listening anymore.
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