Should we vaccinate our children against Covid-19 in Malaysia? — Amar-Singh HSS

While we take every protective measure to prevent children from getting infected, we need to ask ourselves if we should consider vaccinating children against Covid-19. Some issues to consider the risk and the benefit are discussed below.

• How severe is Covid-19 in children? Will vaccines benefit children?
• Are Covid-19 vaccines safe to use in children?
• Are there benefits to the family and society?
• Remember that children cannot be a priority for vaccination until we first vaccinate all adults that are keen. This includes the elderly, those with chronic illness, younger adults who comprise our workforce and our migrant workers.
• What are other nations doing?

Summary

‘The pandemic impacts all of us, even those not infected. We will have to grapple with these issues as parents and a society as we decide about Covid-19 vaccination for children. How effectively we control the outbreak locally and the spread and impact of variants (mutations) will also determine our response and decision regarding this issue.

‘In Malaysia we have yet to make a serious impact on vaccination rates for those at high risk of severe illness and death (the elderly and those with chronic illnesses). No matter how much we want to support children, it is imperative that we push for those at highest risk to be vaccinated before we vaccinate children. In addition, it is vital to vaccinate young adults who are working and mobile as they are important drivers of the pandemic. However we should consider selectively vaccinating children with severe disabilities in residential care, especially if at high risk of exposure to Covid-19.

‘My personal preference would be not to subject our children to mass vaccination against Covid-19 however to control Covid-19 in the community we may have to vaccinate children aged 12-17 years. The recovery of our nation from Covid-19 means the recovery of our children from the severe mental strain that currently impacts them daily. Lives are currently being lived on a ‘pause button’ and vaccination is an important measure to return our society to a semblance of normality.’

Read here (The Malay Mail, June 6, 2021)

The pandemic’s wrongest man [in the US]

‘In this crowded field of wrongness, one voice stands out. The voice of Alex Berenson: the former New York Times reporter, Yale-educated novelist, avid tweeter, online essayist, and all-around pandemic gadfly. Berenson has been serving up COVID-19 hot takes for the past year, blithely predicting that the United States would not reach 500,000 deaths (we’ve surpassed 550,000) and arguing that cloth and surgical masks can’t protect against the coronavirus (yes, they can).

‘Berenson has a big megaphone. He has more than 200,000 followers on Twitter and millions of viewers for his frequent appearances on Fox News’ most-watched shows. On Laura Ingraham’s show, he downplayed the vaccines, suggesting that Israel’s experience proved they were considerably less effective than initially claimed. On Tucker Carlson Tonight, he predicted that the vaccines would cause an uptick in cases of COVID-related illness and death in the U.S...’

Read here (The Atlantic, Apr 1, 2021)

US Catholic group tells followers to avoid Johnson & Johnson vaccine

‘An American Catholic church body on Tuesday urged its followers to avoid the coronavirus vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson, alleging that it was “developed, tested and produced using abortion-derived cell lines.”

‘The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) urged Catholics to choose between the alternatives offered by Pfizer and Moderna because the J&J vaccine raised questions about “moral permissibility.”

“The approval of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine for use in the United States again raises questions about the moral permissibility of using vaccines developed, tested, and/or produced with the help of abortion-derived cell lines,” said Bishop Kevin C Rhoades, chairman of USCCB.’

Read here (Independent, Mar 3, 2021)