Urgency of Normal calls for an end to COVID vaccine mandates
(Nationwide) - It has come to our attention that some organizations serving children, including residential summer camps, have instituted pediatric COVID vaccine mandates. While the Urgency of Normal recognizes that these requirements have been implemented with the intention of protecting community health and safety, we believe that decisions about the pediatric COVID vaccine should be made between families and their primary-care physicians. We strongly urge organizations serving children to discontinue all COVID vaccine mandates.
The COVID vaccine and bivalent booster provide limited protection against viral transmission and instead benefit recipients in potential risk reduction of hospitalization and/or death. The degree of protection varies based on various factors, including age, underlying health conditions, and infection-acquired immunity. It is well established that COVID risks have a steep age gradient with the highest risk being to the elderly. Hospitalization and death rates for children, especially those with no underlying health conditions, remain low.
The CDC estimates that current pediatric seroprevalence rates are 96.3%. This indicates that despite low vaccination rates among pediatric populations, immunity is widespread. Multiple studies demonstrate evidence that infection-acquired immunity is equal to or superior to vaccine-acquired immunity. Since the primary vaccine series utilizes the ancestral strain of COVID-19 to induce immunity, it is unlikely that vaccinating a child who recently recovered from a newer strain will provide a measurable immunological benefit.
Adverse events, though rare, have been documented and their prevalence and potential long-term effects continue to be studied. Multiple countries, including Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom either do not recommend or do not offer the COVID vaccine to healthy children with no underlying conditions, stating that the individual and/or community benefits of the vaccine do not outweigh the potential risks to the child. In the FDA’s Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee’s discussion of the Emergency Use Authorization of the 5-11 vaccine, committee members expressed concerns about potential pediatric vaccine mandates, indicating that the decision to vaccinate is best made between the child’s family and their healthcare provider.
Children have been deeply impacted by restrictive COVID policies, and it is crucial that barriers are removed to enable their participation in enriching activities. Given the limited community benefits pediatric COVID vaccines have in preventing transmission, the low-risk COVID presents to children, the high seroprevalence rate, the potential risks to the child, and the importance of making activities accessible to this generation of children, we strongly urge all organizations serving children to remove pediatric COVID vaccine mandates and to allow this healthcare decision to be made privately between families and their primary-care physicians.
