Fact Check: No, Kids Are Not 50 Times More Likely to Die from the Covid19 Vaccine
- A social media post has made the claim that the Covid19 vaccine is more harmful to children than the actual coronavirus
- The Instagram post was a quote from Dr Michael Yeadon, a Former Pfizer VP, who made the claim during a podcast interview
- The World Health Organization says children may suffer side-effects after getting the Covid19 vaccine but they are usually milder than in adults
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JOHANNESBURG - The misconceptions and misinformation around Covid19 vaccines has not stopped spreading and with children now in line to get the jab, more false statements about the vaccine and the impact they have on kids continues to spread.
A recent Instagram post made the allegation that Covid19 vaccines are more harmful to children than the actual virus, claiming that the words quoted in the post were said by Dr Michael Yeadon, a former Pfizer VP.
Source: Getty Images
The post read:
"Children are 50 times more likely to be killed by Covid vaccines than the virus itself."
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Yeadon has not worked for Pfizer in a decade
A few red flags come up in the post, the first being that the former Pfizer VP that was quoted in the post has not worked for the pharmaceutical company since 2011, according to Politifact.
Yeadon made the claim during a podcast in 2020, but when asked to back his claim with evidence, he was unable to do so. However he made reference to the adverse effects Covid19 vaccines have as opposed to other vaccines.
How the Covid19 vaccine affects children
The Department of Health recently gave the go-ahead for children between the ages of 12 and 17 to get one shot of the Pfizer Covid19 vaccine, reports News24. The vaccine programme for children in South Africa rolled out in mid-October.
Many other countries around the world have also begun their vaccine programmes for children with some countries, such as Japan, looking to roll out vaccines to children as young as five from February 2022, reports The Japan Times.
When it comes to the side-effects experienced by children who have taken the Covid19 vaccine, Dr Maria Van Kerkhove of the World Health Organization says children experience milder side effects as opposed to adults.
Some children have, however, have had more severe side effects such as inflammation of the heart muscle and inflammation of the lining outside the heart. There is currently a record of more than 1 000 cases of such in the United States since April 2021, however, no deaths related to the Covid19 vaccine have been reported.
The CDC has noted that 14 children have died since receiving the Pfizer shot but upon further investigation, it was determined that the vaccine itself was not the cause of death.
Covid 19: Children over 12 can now get vaccinated in SA
Briefly News previously reported that children between the ages of 12 and 17 can get the Covid 19 vaccine in South Africa, says Minister of Health Joe Phaahla.
The announcement was made on Friday during a pressing briefing by the Department of Health to update the country on the pandemic.
The Department of Health had initially looked at allowing kids over 12 to get vaccinated at the end of the month of October because, at the time, the department was focused on getting the adult population vaccinated first. More specifically, people over the age of 50, according to News24.
Source: Briefly News
