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The United States, having recently approved COVID-19 vaccinations for those 5 to 11 years of age, seems eager to include even such young children in its vaccination program; the world’s other nations, not so much.
As reported by The Wall Street Journal on 15 November, countries like China, Argentina and Colombia are following or even expanding on the U.S.A.’s policy and vaccinating kids as young as 3 yrs. old, whereas in Mexico and parts of Africa there are no such plans, and across Europe only children with special risk factors get vaxxed if under 12 yrs. Australia and New Zealand, Japan and Israel are cited as countries that may decide to vaccinate children under 12, but thus far have not.
The WSJ article acknowledges that the risk of severe illness posed to children by COVID-19 is very small, but contends that vaccinating kids benefits people with whom they come in contact and the general population.
TRENDPOST: The WSJ is half right. That the risk to children is minuscule has been established, but so has the lack of risk to those around them; see “MORE EVIDENCE KIDS DON’T SPREAD COVID TO ADULTS” (17 Nov 2020) and “CNN REPORTS ON ‘FURTHER DEBUNKING OF A MYTH,’ AS IT IGNORES COVID FACTS” (17 Aug 2021).
Countries in sub-Saharan Africa have not vaccinated children, largely because rollouts of vaccinations in general are so slow; only 6.3 percent of Africans have thus far been fully vaccinated.
Mexico “Gets It”
Mexico, on the other hand, is deliberately resisting vaxxing anyone under 18, aside from those with pre-existing conditions like asthma or diabetes. Mexico’s president not only believes that minors don’t get seriously ill from COVID-19 and therefore don’t need protection, he has stated that his country is “not going to be hostage” to pharmaceutical companies that want to “scare countries into buying more vaccines.”
TRENDPOST: Perhaps Mexico’s president subscribes to Trends Journal, and has read articles like “DRUG DEALERS: GET KIDS VACCINATED” (23 Mar 2021), “JAB KIDS WHO WON’T DIE OF THE VIRUS: THERE’S NO BUSINESS LIKE VAX BUSINESS” (9 Nov 2021), or “DRUG COMPANIES CASHING IN ON COVID” (11 May 2021).