U.S. Senator Rand Paul tweeted a claim that the CDC’s advice for three COVID shots for young children is unnecessary since there aren’t studies showing they lower hospital visits or serious illness in that age group.

In children, children need 3 doses of the Pfizer vaccine only to be considered fully vaccinated. The Moderna vaccine is only two doses. Whether two or three doses, the full series protects children at the best levels possible with these vaccines.

Additionally, studies have shown that COVID vaccines help prevent severe illness in children, including reducing the risk of hospitalization and severe outcomes like multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). While hospitalization rates for COVID-19 are generally lower in children than adults, they are still significant, particularly among young children and infants who have not yet developed robust immune defenses. Clinical trials and real-world data support the vaccine’s efficacy in reducing severe outcomes.

Stories like Ethan’s remind us why it’s worth protecting children against the worst effects of COVID.

In a recirculated video, pediatrician Paul Thomas claims that unvaccinated children in his practice are healthier and less likely to have chronic conditions or developmental issues compared to vaccinated children and that his medical license was suspended after sharing this data.

Anti-vaxxers often claim that unvaccinated children are healthier than vaccinated children in many ways. They often cite some studies to try to back up those claims. However, all these studies suffer from a lot of the same fallacies. Many are simple surveys.

Surveys are often victims of self-selection bias, or volunteer bias, in which participants can decide whether or not to participate in the study, along with recall bias and reporting bias.

One refrain you often hear from anti-vaxxers is “Follow the money.” So we did, and we found one study funded by two different anti-vaccine organizations (Generation Rescue, Inc., and the Children’s Medical Safety Research Institute). This study was eventually retracted. Twice.

This interview is based on a paper that claims to have discovered an ‘off-switch’ for mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. In it, Dr. McCullough says that one solution to “detox” against mRNA vaccines is to introduce small interfering RNA (siRNA), similar to mRNA along with ribonuclease targeting chimeras (RIBOTACs)

McCullough has made multiple claims, including in his paper below, that lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) can cause injury and harm. Yet in his new procedure, both siRNA and RIBOTACs use lipid nanoparticles to enter the cells to target mRNA. If using lipids to allow siRNA and RIBOTACs to enter our cells is seen as safe, we can also assume the mRNA from vaccination is safe.

McCullough thinks this procedure is necessary because of worries about how mRNA vaccines spread throughout the body.

His idea about “systemic biodistribution” comes from misconstrued data. A study in rats looked at lipid nanoparticles after mRNA vaccine injections and their distribution in organs over time. The data show that most of the nanoparticles stayed where they were injected, and some went to the liver. In the ovaries, the highest amount of nanoparticles found was very, very small (only about 0.095% after 48 hours). This amount might be even smaller in human ovaries because the dose used in the COVID vaccine is much less than what they used in the rat study.

Would this off-switch work? We doubt Dr. McCullough’s science very much, and it is unnecessary because while tiny amounts of mRNA may persist in the body, the vast majority usually degrades within days.

The Southwest Idaho Health District’s Board of Health voted to remove COVID vaccines from its facilities following presentations by several doctors known for spreading anti-vaccine misinformation, including Dr. Ryan Cole and others. These speakers questioned the safety of COVID-19 vaccines, which influenced some board members, particularly Dr. John Tribble, who expressed concerns about vaccine safety and trust issues.

The Southwest Idaho Health District Board consists of seven people, only one of whom is a physician who has been outspoken against COVID vaccines. He uses his status as an emergency physician to claim that vaccines are untested and unsafe, but he does not regularly give vaccines.

COVID vaccines have undergone rigorous testing in clinical trials and ongoing safety monitoring by major health organizations, including the CDC, FDA, and WHO. This testing shows the vaccines are effective in preventing severe illness, hospitalization, and death from COVID, especially for high-risk groups.

Presenters to the board include notable purveyors of misinformation like Dr. Peter McCullough who has been widely criticized by medical and scientific communities for misrepresenting data and making unsupported claims.

By endorsing misinformation, the board is creating unnecessary barriers to healthcare access, which will likely have a disproportionate impact on vulnerable populations. Maintaining COVID vaccines at health district offices supports the mission of public health, protecting both individuals and the broader community by making essential preventive care accessible to all.