Singlehandedly the most brilliant article on children and risks by Science-Based Medicine Dr Jonathan Howard.

Key points:

1- Fallacy of minimizing harms

2- Contrast facts and totality of evidence

1- Fallacy of minimizing one harm by pointing out a more severe harm is called ‘fallacy of relative privation’. This tactic has been used often to minimize how COVID-19 has harmed children.

2- Contrast facts: these are independent to each other & not meant to be pitted against each other. Totality of information is critical. Yes, children constitute only ~0.08% of Covid deaths & are much less likely to die due to Covid vs older people (blue circle facts) BUT ALSO:

‘Orange circle facts’:

– Covid has killed over 500 children in the US. Children are not supposed to die.

– Tens of thousands of children required ICU-level care + mechanical ventilation.

– ~4,196 children have been diagnosed with MIS-C (most requiring ICU).

Can’t make informed policy decisions without taking into account totality of evidence. Many articles/people focusing on certain aspects and omitting other critical information such as the ‘orange circle facts’. Important to consider the entire situation including both ‘blue’ and ‘orange’ circle facts. In addition, false comparisons to adults and other severe harms is distorting perception.

Bottom line: Children are not supposed to die. Their deaths can be prevented by vaccines. Until then, we need to keep them safe.