TallGuyJohninBKK

" In making the announcement, Mr. Kennedy seems to have reneged on a promise he made to Senator Bill Cassidy, Republican of Louisiana, not to alter the childhood immunization schedule. [emphasis added] ... Mr. Kennedy’s decision upends the standard process for such recommendations, which are made by advisers to the C.D.C. and accepted — or overruled — by the agency’s director. The health secretary is typically not directly involved in these matters, but the C.D.C. does not currently have a permanent director. New York Times https://archive.ph/Aoz36#selection-731.0-731.308 Background re the role of Republican Sen. Cassidy, who's also a physician who played key role in getting Kennedy confirmed by the Senate: Why the 1 senator who can rein in RFK Jr. isn’t calling him out May 14, 2025 ... "After his tough questions in January, Cassidy voted to confirm Kennedy, saying Kennedy had promised to uphold the current vaccine approval and monitoring system. [emphasis added] “I will carefully watch for any effort to wrongfully sow public fear about vaccines,” Cassidy said in a floor speech explaining his vote. Since then, Cassidy has refrained from publicly criticizing the secretary, even as Kennedy has pledged new scrutiny for Covid-19 vaccines, offered lukewarm endorsement of the measles shot during an outbreak and reportedly hired a vaccine skeptic to lead a search for autism’s cause." Politico https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/13/rfk-jr-set-to-face-the-senator-who-grilled-him-00346321

The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials "Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Tuesday said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will no longer recommend Covid-19 shots for "healthy children and healthy pregnant women." He announced the policy change in a social media video in which no CDC officials appeared. [emphasis added] Who said what "CDC officials were not informed in advance of Kennedy's decision," The Washington Post said, citing a former agency official. Public health experts "immediately questioned" the announcement, The Associated Press said, in part because Kennedy, a "leading anti-vaccine advocate," bypassed a "scientific review process that has been in place for decades, in which experts — in public meetings — review current medical evidence and hash out" policy recommendations. [emphasis added] ... Pregnant women are "at high risk of severe illness and complications from Covid," and vaccinating them also "extends the protection to their unborn until the babies are about 6 months old," a period in which infants' risk of severe disease and hospitalization from the virus is "comparable to that among adults 65 and older," The New York Times said." The Week https://theweek.com/health/rfk-jr-covid-vaccine-pregnant-women-kids

Once again, RFK Jr. is not only a serial anti-vaxer and COVID misinformer, but now also a proven liar: RFK Jr: ‘We’re not gonna take vaccines away from anybody’ November 6, 2024 "Anti-vaccine activist and former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who’s been promised a prominent health care role by President-elect Donald Trump in his administration, sought to allay concerns Wednesday that he would seek to halt vaccinations. “We’re not going to take vaccines away from anybody,” he told NPR in an interview this morning after Trump’s overnight victory. He repeated the message a few hours later in an interview with MSNBC." (more) https://www.politico.eu/article/robert-f-kennedy-jr-not-taking-vaccines-away-from-anybody/

"Since the vaccines became available, the government has been recommending the shots for nearly everyone, including children and pregnant people. Although children don't tend to get seriously ill from COVID, some do, especially very young children, and pregnant women remain at high risk for serious complications from the virus. [emphasis added] ... Dr. Steven J. Fleischman, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said his organization is "extremely disappointed" by the removal of the recommendation for COVID shots during pregnancy. "As ob-gyns who treat patients every day, we have seen firsthand how dangerous COVID infection can be during pregnancy and for newborns who depend on maternal antibodies from the vaccine for protection," he said in a statement. "The science has not changed. It is very clear that COVID infection during pregnancy can be catastrophic and lead to major disability." [emphasis added] NPR https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/05/27/nx-s1-5413179/covid-vaccine-children-pregnant-rfk-cdc

"Amesh A. Adalja, MD, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, strongly disagreed with the decision and was critical of Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine advocate who Adalja noted recently said during a congressional hearing that people should not be taking his medical advice. “These are bad recommendations that no one should follow,” Adalja told Healio. “Pregnancy is a high-risk condition for COVID, as recently indicated in the FDA’s announcing of new clinical trial guidelines,” he said. “Healthy children — at least for their initial vaccine series — benefit, as hospitalization rates for COVID in those under 2 is unacceptably high, and routine childhood vaccination schedules include vaccines with lower morbidity levels. This decision should be viewed exclusively as the actions of an anti-vaccine advocate who unfortunately has the ability to wield government power.” [emphasis added] Healio https://www.healio.com/news/infectious-disease/20250527/kennedy-cdc-will-stop-recommending-covid-shots-for-healthy-children-pregnant-women

Another load of meaningless data (for current discussion in 2025) that predated the bulk of the COVID pandemic, and the later periods that had the highest COVID fatality rates: From your cited source: "We report IFR estimates for April 15, 2020, to January 1, 2021, the period before the introduction of vaccines and widespread evolution of variants." More broadly, it's a typical ploy of anti-vaxers and COVID deniers to express deaths and hospitalization data as population level percentages (which are going to be small under almost any circumstance, and to then totally ignore the thousands of child deaths and hundreds of thousands of COVID hospitalizations in minors. Child mortality and COVID-19 Last update: March 2023 UNICEF reported that more than 17,400 children and adolescents under age 20 had died of COVID, based on sampling and incomplete data from reporting countries. https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-survival/covid-19/

That from March 2020 was at the very beginning of the COVID pandemic, and has little relevance to what actually occurred during the ensuing years of the pandemic. And on top of that, the chart reflects their early 2020 modeling estimates, not any actual real data on fatalities from that chart. Put it all together, and it's totally meaningless irrelevant for the current discussion/topic! Especially when there's REAL actual data available on the point. According to CDC data, more than 1,800 minors died of COVID in the U.S. from the pandemic up through mid-2023: Provisional COVID-19 deaths by age group, by sex: United States https://data.cdc.gov/National-Center-for-Health-Statistics/Deaths-by-Sex-Ages-0-18-years/xa4b-4pzv And below is data on minors' COVID hospitalizations - some 234,000: American Academy of Pediatrics analyzes pediatric COVID-19 hospitalizations from 2020-’24 July 1, 2024 About 234,000 children under age 18 were hospitalized with confirmed cases of COVID-19 from fall 2020 to spring 2024, according to AAP analysis of data collected by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). [emphasis added] https://publications.aap.org/aapnews/news/29182 Real numbers. Real deaths and real illnesses from COVID in young people. Not the 2020 chart nonsense posted above.

Thailand has long liked favipiravir, also sold under the brand name Avigan, because the government's GPO has the rights to manufacture and sell it locally... But there's little evidence it does much to help COVID patients, and Japan -- where the drug was developed -- previously dropped it as a COVID treatment. And AFAIK, it was never approved or used in the U.S. or UK for COVID. From 2022: Japan's Fujifilm to halt enrollment in Avigan trial for COVID-19 March 11 (Reuters) ... "Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he hoped Avigan would be approved in May 2020 for COVID-19, and he pledged donate supplies to needy countries. ... ...studies in Japan have been inconclusive, leading domestic regulators to hold off approval for it, partly because animal study data showed it could lead to birth defects. As Avigan stumbled in clinical trials, other antiviral pills have come to the fore against COVID-19. Japan has bought millions of doses of oral treatments developed by Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) and Merck & Co (MRK.N)." https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/japans-fujifilm-says-terminate-enrollment-avigan-trial-covid-19-2022-03-11/ Fujifilm's Avigan shows no significant benefit on COVID-19 mortality - study TOKYO, Feb 18 (Reuters) - A study of global trials of Fujifilm Holdings Corp's (4901.T) antiviral drug Avigan suggests it has little benefit for COVID-19 patients once their symptoms become serious. .... But it failed to demonstrate statistically significant results in reducing mortality among those with mild to moderate COVID-19. ... In January, Indian drugmaker Dr.Reddy's Laboratories (REDY.NS), which bought the global rights to Avigan from Fujifilm last summer, halted a clinical trial of the drug in Kuwait. (more) https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/fujifilms-avigan-shows-no-significant-benefit-covid-19-mortality-study-2021-02-18/ A 2024 Cochrane review of favipiravir for treating COVID found: "Due to a lack of robust evidence, we are unclear if favipiravir provides any benefit in the treatment of people with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) infections who do not require hospital admission, as well as those admitted to hospital." • We do not know if favipiravir reduces the number of people who die from COVID‐19 when compared to dummy treatment, standard of care, or other antiviral medicines. The evidence supporting this is not very strong (derived from 11 studies involving 3459 people). • It is also very unclear if favipiravir reduces the need for people to be put on ventilators compared to a dummy treatment or any other antiviral treatments (derived from 8 studies involving 1383 people). (more) https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD015219.pub2/full

Correcting this for you: Serial anti-vaxer and COVID misinformer RFK Jr. Stops Recommending COVID-19 Vaccines for Pregnant Women and [Healthy] Children The U.S. CDC under the Trump Admin. doesn't have a confirmed director at present, that being the person who normally would be responsible for making these kinds of final vaccine decisions. And, on top of that, there's no evidence thus far that the CDC's staff / experts had any actual role in the RFK Jr. policy change.

XBB COVID vaccine estimated to be 63% to 68% effective against more severe illness in kids December 13, 2024 "The adjusted effectiveness of the updated Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 XBB vaccine in the 2023-24 US respiratory virus season was 68% and 63% against hospitalization or emergency department (ED) or urgent-care visits among children aged 5 to 11 years and 12 to 17 years, respectively, with an overall effectiveness for both age-groups of 65%, a Kaiser Permanente Southern California (KPSC)-led research team estimates. ... The US COVID-19 hospitalization rate among 5- to 17-year-olds was about 10.5 per 100,000 during the study period. "Assuming 65% vaccine effectiveness, vaccinating the roughly 54.3 million 5-to-17-year–olds in the US could have averted approximately 3,700 hospitalizations and, using the approximately 30:1 ratio of hospitalizations to ED or urgent care visits we observed in our study, roughly 111,000 ED or urgent care visits during the 2023-2024 respiratory virus season," the researchers wrote. [emphasis added] https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/xbb-covid-vaccine-estimated-be-63-68-effective-against-more-severe-illness-kids

American Academy of Pediatrics analyzes pediatric COVID-19 hospitalizations from 2020-’24 July 1, 2024 About 234,000 children under age 18 were hospitalized with confirmed cases of COVID-19 from fall 2020 to spring 2024, according to AAP analysis of data collected by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). [emphasis added] ... The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations varied substantially across time by waves of infection and emergence of new variants (see figure). The largest peak was in winter 2022 during the omicron surge, with 6,527 child hospitalizations the week of Jan. 15. In the final week of the report, April 27, 2024, 310 children with a confirmed COVID-19 case were admitted, among the lowest levels reported during the pandemic. Starting in January 2022, HHS also required hospitals to break out child admissions by age group (0-4 years, 5-11 years and 12-17 years) in their weekly reports. While children ages 0-4 comprise about 26% of the U.S. child population, they accounted for 58% of the confirmed COVID-19 [juvenile] hospital admissions from January 2022 to April 2024. This may be related to greater vulnerability or to lower vaccination levels among this age group. (more) https://publications.aap.org/aapnews/news/29182

And of course, no date, no source, no location geography, and no author info on the chart you keep posting, rendering the info meaningless.

Statement by the U.S. Infectious Diseases Society of America President Dr. Tina Tan on RFK Jr.s announcement: "Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s announcement that COVID-19 vaccines will no longer be recommended for healthy children and pregnant women does the opposite of what Americans have been asking for when it comes to their health — it takes away choices and will negatively impact them. ... This change is particularly troubling because pregnancy is a well-established risk factor for severe COVID-19 complications, including preterm labor and birth, preeclampsia, heart injury, blood clots, hypertension and kidney damage. Infants and children may also develop severe disease and may suffer from prolonged symptoms due to long COVID, which can negatively impact their development. This decision bypassed longstanding processes through which the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the CDC — an external body of highly vetted experts — conducts a robust review of scientific evidence in open, public meetings to make vaccine recommendations for people of all ages. It is concerning that such a significant policy change was made unilaterally outside an open, evidence-based process with no regard for the negative impact this will have on millions of Americans. [emphasis added] IDSA strongly urges insurers to maintain coverage for COVID-19 vaccines so that all Americans can make the best decisions to protect themselves and their families against severe illness, hospitalization and death. IDSA also urges Congress to conduct meaningful and necessary oversight to ensure appropriate decision-making processes at the Department of Health and Human Services, which will impact people of all ages." https://www.idsociety.org/news--publications-new/articles/2025/new-covid-vaccine-recommendations-threaten-access-undermine-choice-and-will-negatively-impact-health/ The Infectious Diseases Society of America is a community of more than 13,000 physicians, scientists and public health experts who specialize in infectious diseases. Its purpose is to improve the health of individuals, communities and society by promoting excellence in patient care, education, research, public health and prevention relating to infectious diseases.

For those who wrongly think young children, especially the unvaccinated ones, aren't at health risk from COVID, here's one answer to that: U.S. researchers in March 2024 published a study of 597 U.S. children ages 8 months to under 5 years who had been hospitalized with acute COVID at 28 pediatric hospitals from fall 2022 to mid 2023. They found the following: "Among 597 children, 174 (29.1%) patients were admitted to the intensive care unit and 75 (12.6%) had a life-threatening illness, including 51 (8.5%) requiring invasive mechanical ventilation... [emphasis added] Only 4.5% of children hospitalized for COVID-19 (n = 27) had completed their primary COVID-19 vaccination series and 7.0% (n = 42) of children initiated but did not complete their primary series. Among 528 unvaccinated children, nearly half (n = 251) were previously healthy, 3 of them required extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for acute COVID-19 and 1 died. [emphasis added] Conclusions: Most young children hospitalized for acute COVID-19, including most children admitted to the intensive care unit and with life-threatening illness, had not initiated COVID-19 vaccination despite being eligible. Nearly half of these children had no underlying conditions. Of the small percentage of children who initiated a COVID-19 primary series, most had not completed it before hospitalization." The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal https://journals.lww.com/pidj/abstract/2024/03000/characteristics_and_clinical_outcomes_of.10.aspx

Your Local Epidemiologist blog author Dr. Katelyn Jetelina in a recent post on the Trump Administration's political appointee-driven vaccine policy making: Bottom line "This isn’t about whether everyone needs a yearly Covid-19 vaccine—that’s a legitimate, ongoing scientific debate, and one ACIP was already tackling in June. This is about how decisions are made—and who gets to make them. FDA political appointees are sidelining expert panels, bypassing transparency, and turning public health into a performance. That might fly in other arenas, but shouldn’t when it comes to people’s health and daily lives. [emphasis added] Vaccine decisions must be rooted in evidence, debate, and transparency. If this is the new model, we should all be alarmed." [emphasis added] YLE is a public health newsletter that reaches over 375,000 people in more than 132 countries, with one goal: to translate the ever-evolving public health science so that people are well-equipped to make evidence-based decisions. https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/covid-19-vaccines-what-just-happened?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=281219&post_id=164017314