Which issues advice on children get a Covid vaccine

"It is less urgent to vaccinate them as the elderly, those with chronic health conditions and health workers."


A social media after distributing on Facebook and Instagram asserts that the World Health Organization recently referred its policy recommendation on children receiving aVVID-19 vaccine.

"The World Health Organization has recently reversed its position on children getting the Covid vaccine. Sorry for all these stupid parents who rushed to get their 12-year-old children vaccinated. Oops that you have injected your children with a poison And that it is no longer recommended. Personally, no one should but at least save the children!, "The post read.

A photo displayed next to the legend is a screenshot of the World Health Organization website, with the words encircled in red: "Children should not be vaccinated for the moment".

The screen also shows the next paragraph with the words underlined in red: "There is still enough evidence on the use of Covid-19 vaccines in children to make recommendations for children to be vaccinated Against Covid-19. "

The position has been reported as part of Facebook's efforts to combat false news and misinformation about its news. (Learn more about PolitifactPartnership with Facebook.)

Others spread similar messages on social media about this alleged change in WHO's position on Covid vaccines for children, includingREP. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). The subject also dominated the Google research related to the vaccine on 22 June, according toGoogle Trends data.

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Mining the web page

The screen shot posted on Instagram has been taken directly from theWho's webpage And the text had not been modified. The purpose of this specific web page is to give public advice on which should receive a Covid vaccine.

The web page said: "Children should not be vaccinated for the moment".

However, it was not new WHO guidelines. The organization first postedThis directive on April 8, according to our analysis of the web page through theSloping, an archive service on the Internet, andFirst try, a non-profit group analyzing misinformation on the web.

When we contacted the WHO of June 22 to ask the officials of the formulation of the web page and that they had reversed their position, a spokesman sent the following statement:

"Children and adolescents tend to have a softer disease compared to adults, then if they are part of a higher risk group of Grave Covid-19, it is less urgent to vaccinate them as the elderly, People with chronic health problems and health workers.

"More evidence is needed on the use of various CVIV-19 vaccines in children to make general recommendations on vaccinating children against COVID-19.

"WHO's expert strategic advisory group (SAGE) concluded that the Pfizer / Biontech vaccine is suitable for use by people aged 12 and over. Children aged 12 to 15 at high risk can be Proposed this vaccine alongside other priority groups. Immunization tests for children are underway and which will update its recommendations when the evidence or epidemiological situation justifies a change in policy.

"It is important for children to continue to have the recommended childhood vaccines."

TheWho updated hisWebpage on June 23,Replacing the language "Children should not be vaccinated for the moment" with the specific language sent in the statement above.

Jen Kates, Director of Global Health and HIV Policy in KFF, said she took her hand in front of a WHO contact that told her that this language updated was added to reflect the most recentThe June 15 meeting of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts, which stated that the Pfizer-Biontech vaccine can be given to those 12 years and over.

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WHO's position

The chief scientist of WHO,Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, explained in aJune 11 video Why WHO did not give priority to Covid vaccines for children.

"So why today, in June 2021, which says vaccinating children are not a priority are because children, although they can be infected with Covid-19 and that they can transmit the Infection to other people, they are at risk much lower. to obtain a severe disease compared to the elderly, "said Swaminathan. "And that's why, when we started prioritizing people who should get vaccination when there are limited supplies of vaccines available in the country, we recommend that you start with health workers and first workers. line at very high risk of exposure. to the infection. Also old people, people who have underlying diseases that make them high risk to develop a severe disease. "

Dr. Rachel Vreeman, Director of the Arnhold Institute for Global Health at the ICAHN School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, confirmed that the statements on the WHO web page were focused on which give priority to the Hierarchy of Covid vaccines.

"They do not say that children should not be vaccinated against COVID or that currently approved vaccines for use in children aged 12 and over are not sure," wrote Vreeman in an email. "WHO saying that global priority should be to get more adults vaccinated because older people are at highest risk of serious complications and deaths of COVID-19."

"Faced with massive inequalities in WHO with access to VVID-19 vaccines on a global scale, WHO advises that those of the most frequent seniors - be hierarchical first," wrote Vreeman.

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COVID vaccine recommendations for children in the United States.

It is also important to consider that COVID vaccine supplies are no longer limited to the United States because they are in other parts of the world. So having to ration the vaccine so that only health workers or those who are older or at higher risk of serious illness do not apply here. Remember that WHO is a global organization. Its recommendations must therefore be applicable around the world.

In the United States, theDisease control and prevention centers recommend Everyone is 12 years old and over receive a Covid vaccine. The Pfizer-Biontech vaccine has been authorized for emergency use in the United States among children aged 12 to 18 and adults of all ages.

TheAmerican Academy of Pediatrics also recommends That children aged 12 and over receive a Covid vaccine.

So Vreeman, who is a pediatrician.

"As a pediatrician in the United States, in a framework where the Covid-19 vaccine is widely available, I first see that children aged 12 and over receive Covid-19 vaccination as soon as possible," wrote Vreeman in an e-mail. "Data show that vaccines are safe and efficient for this age group and we want to prevent the risks that Covid-19 presents children."

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Our decision

A position of Instagram and other positions through social media have falsely stated that WHO has recently reversed its position on children receiving a CVID vaccine because vaccines were "poisons" and would be dangerous for children.

WHO has published its orientation for children and Covid vaccinations of April 8th. This orientation included the wording ", children should not be vaccinated at the moment." But this wording was the reflection of WHO that affirmed that children should not be prioritized for vaccines against other groups because in many countries, vaccine supplies are limited and health workers, workers. First line, seniors and high-risk medical conditions should first have DIBS.

There is no evidence that WHO "reversed" its position on Covid's vaccination of childhood in the way viral social media posts allege. WHO has updated its guidance on June 23 to reflect a meeting of one of its scientific advisory groups, which stated that the Pfizer-Biontech vaccine could be granted safely to children aged 12 and over. But this has happened after these deceptive positions have appeared for the first time.

We evaluate this demand for fake.

Victoria Knight, Kaiser Health News


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