The declare: Solely 325,000 younger kids out of 19 million within the US have obtained the COVID-19 vaccine
In June, the Meals and Drug Administration licensed the usage of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for kids as younger as 6 months outdated, prompting the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention to advocate that younger kids get the pictures.
The variety of kids that age who’ve been vaccinated remained low over the summer season regardless of a gentle rise in hospitalizations, USA TODAY reported.
However a publish spreading on social media understates what number of kids have been vaccinated.
“Why did solely 325,000 American youngsters out of 19,000,000 get the shot? Due to these of you BRAVE sufficient to inform the reality to your pals, household or neighbor,” reads a Sept. 23 Instagram publish that obtained greater than 5,000 likes in 4 days. “Why will a number of of them have long run incapacity or WORSE? Due to these of you COWARDS who knew, however didn’t say.”
The publish mischaracterizes the vaccination figures on a number of fronts.
The publish is making an attempt to refer to statistical data for kids underneath 5, although it does not spell that out. The 325,000 determine is not the variety of kids who’ve merely gotten a shot, it is the quantity which have been absolutely vaccinated. A couple of million kids underneath 5 have obtained no less than one shot, as have tens of thousands and thousands of older kids.
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USA TODAY reached out to the consumer who shared the declare for remark.
Hundreds of thousands of kids have obtained the COVID-19 vaccine
About 1.4 million American kids ages 6 months to 4 years obtained no less than one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as of Sept. 21, in response to a report by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
There have been about 18.8 million kids youthful than 5 within the U.S. as of July 1, 2021, in response to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Youngsters ages 5 to 11 have been in a position to get the vaccine since early November. About 10.7 million kids that age have obtained no less than one dose, whereas 8.8 million have had two doses.
The numbers climb even greater amongst the nation’s oldest kids. About 17.6 million kids ages 12 to 17 have obtained no less than one dose, and about 15 million have had two doses.
The vaccination charges amongst kids in all age teams fluctuate broadly by state, the academy’s report says.
The pandemic hasn’t spared the nation’s youngest kids: two million kids youthful than 5 have been contaminated with COVID-19, together with about 20,000 who needed to be hospitalized and 200 who died, USA TODAY reported in June. Pfizer and Moderna every carried out trials throughout the pandemic that confirmed their vaccines have been protected for younger kids.
USA TODAY has beforehand debunked many false claims about kids and the COVID-19 vaccine, together with baseless assertions that “extra kids will die” from the vaccine than the virus, that a kids’s hospital expanded in anticipation of vaccine negative effects and that Pfizer added a brand new coronary heart attack-stopping chemical to kids’s vaccines.
PolitiFact additionally debunked the declare.
Our score: Partly false
Based mostly on our analysis, we price PARTLY FALSE the declare that solely 325,000 younger kids out of 19 million within the U.S. have obtained the COVID-19 vaccine. Whereas it is true that about 325,000 kids ages 6 months to 4 years within the U.S. have been absolutely vaccinated, about 1.4 million kids that age have obtained no less than one dose, as have tens of thousands and thousands of older kids.
Our fact-check sources:
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CDC, Sept. 22, COVID-19 Vaccination Age and Intercourse Traits in the USA, Nationwide and Jurisdictional
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U.S. Census Bureau, accessed Sept. 28, Nationwide Inhabitants by Traits: 2020-2021
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American Academy of Pediatrics, Sept. 21, Youngsters and COVID-19 Vaccination Traits
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USA TODAY, Aug. 25, COVID vaccination in youngsters underneath 5 stay low as US hospital admissions steadily rise
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USA TODAY, June 18, CDC recommends COVID-19 vaccines for youngest Individuals; pictures will change into out there as quickly as Tuesday
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USA TODAY, June 15, FDA authorizes Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines for youngest youngsters
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CDC, June 18, CDC Recommends COVID-19 Vaccines for Younger Youngsters
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FDA, June 17, FDA Authorizes Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccines for Youngsters Down to six Months of Age
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USA TODAY, Nov. 2, 2021, CDC recommends Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for youths 5-11, pictures anticipated to roll out this week
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USA TODAY, Could 11, 2021, Youthful teenagers might quickly get the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Your questions answered
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USA TODAY, Dec. 2, 2021, Reality examine: COVID-19 vaccines protected for kids, not linked to deaths
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USA TODAY, Feb. 17, Reality examine: Canadian kids’s hospital did not increase for uncommon COVID vaccine facet impact
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USA TODAY, Nov. 29, 2021, Reality examine: New ingredient in Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine mischaracterized in on-line posts
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PolitiFact, Sept. 27, Hundreds of thousands of kids within the US have been vaccinated in opposition to COVID-19
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This text initially appeared on USA TODAY: Reality examine: 1.4M youngsters youthful than 5 in US have had COVID-19 vaccine