WHO would have thought in a time where we have a vast expanse of information readily available to us, people would choose to reject expert advice and latch onto the more than questionable rants of unqualified social media “researchers.”
Regularly, no one particularly cares what you believe or what you do not believe. Flat earthers or people who believe the world elites are an alien race of lizard people; rarely affect the lives of others.
However in times of global crisis, misinformation and the belief in misinformation can be extremely dangerous. Take for example when rioters who subscribed to the conspiracy theories of the mysterious online entity Q, stormed the US capital during the inauguration of current US President Joe Biden.
Today, misinformation is the number one cause behind our inability to move forward through the Covid-19 pandemic.
Luckily, there are people out there who have zero time for people peddling their unverifiable information on public platforms.
This week journalist Soyini Grey was unlucky enough to interview the PRO of the Concerned Parents group Shamila Raheem regarding the vaccine push for children between ages 12 to18 with the Pfizer vaccine.
Raheem pretty much started off on shaky ground, calling the vaccine an “experimental” vaccine.
Grey shut her down hard, pointing out the vaccine was not experimental.
It has gone through rigorous testing, under the strictest conditions; the only thing that was rushed or is still outstanding is the bureaucratic paperwork.
Raheem who really couldn’t argue this, started to babble on about side effects and myocarditis.
Grey pulled out the facts and pointed out the risk of a child developing myocarditis from the vaccine is significantly lower, compared to the risk of an unvaccinated child developing myocarditis from Covid.
A defeated Raheem, began babbling on about animals dying in the vaccine trails (a point which she again had no evidence to back up) and was cut short by Grey.
Raheem went on to post a sad story on Facebook, which again was filled with non-scientific, non-credible, speculative information and ended it all with the good old “I don’t the trust the Government.”
Well lady guess what? I don’t particularly trust the Government either. I am also not ignorant to the fact that the historically pharmaceutical companies have been involved in some sneaky business.
But do you know who I do trust? The experts, the millions of doctors and researchers who have decades of experience and education behind them.
So here are some facts about the Covid-19 virus, the Delta variant, the Pfizer vaccine and children:
The Delta variant is affecting children far worse than the original Covid strain;
Pediatric Consultant Dr Mariama Alleyne confirmed in an interview this week that more children are presenting with Covid here in T&T;
She additionally confirmed that to date locally, 52 children have contracted Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome, a rare but dangerous complication of Covid-19;
A study conducted by the Mayo Clinic has shown the Pfizer BioNTech Covid-19 vaccination is 100% effective in preventing the Covid virus in children ages 12 to15, with early research showing it is 96% effective in preventing severe disease caused by the Delta variant;
The most common side effects of the Pfizer vaccine in children are the usual tenderness at the injection site, headache, mild fever and body pains;
In rare instances, one in 20,000, a child may develop myocarditis after taking the vaccine. However it should be noted the chances of children developing myocarditis as a result of having Covid is 21 times higher in girls and six times higher in boys compared to those who have been vaccinated.
Over 9 million children in US have been vaccinated. Doctors all over the globe recommend vaccinating your child against Covid, because the benefits by far outweigh the risk.
It baffles me that people would take their information from random strangers on internet, who have zero medical training, pick and choose out of context research and articles to act as proof of their biases and call it research.
I understand your concerns, but I will not tolerate your aversion to taking advice from medical experts and spreading unverifiable, coincidental, nonsensical, paranoid misinformation.
Misinformation Will be the Downfall of Humanity
WHO would have thought in a time where we have a vast expanse of information readily available to us, people would choose to reject expert advice and latch onto the more than questionable rants of unqualified social media “researchers.”
Regularly, no one particularly cares what you believe or what you do not believe. Flat earthers or people who believe the world elites are an alien race of lizard people; rarely affect the lives of others.
However in times of global crisis, misinformation and the belief in misinformation can be extremely dangerous. Take for example when rioters who subscribed to the conspiracy theories of the mysterious online entity Q, stormed the US capital during the inauguration of current US President Joe Biden.
Today, misinformation is the number one cause behind our inability to move forward through the Covid-19 pandemic.
Luckily, there are people out there who have zero time for people peddling their unverifiable information on public platforms.
This week journalist Soyini Grey was unlucky enough to interview the PRO of the Concerned Parents group Shamila Raheem regarding the vaccine push for children between ages 12 to18 with the Pfizer vaccine.
Raheem pretty much started off on shaky ground, calling the vaccine an “experimental” vaccine.
Grey shut her down hard, pointing out the vaccine was not experimental.
It has gone through rigorous testing, under the strictest conditions; the only thing that was rushed or is still outstanding is the bureaucratic paperwork.
Raheem who really couldn’t argue this, started to babble on about side effects and myocarditis.
Grey pulled out the facts and pointed out the risk of a child developing myocarditis from the vaccine is significantly lower, compared to the risk of an unvaccinated child developing myocarditis from Covid.
A defeated Raheem, began babbling on about animals dying in the vaccine trails (a point which she again had no evidence to back up) and was cut short by Grey.
Raheem went on to post a sad story on Facebook, which again was filled with non-scientific, non-credible, speculative information and ended it all with the good old “I don’t the trust the Government.”
Well lady guess what? I don’t particularly trust the Government either. I am also not ignorant to the fact that the historically pharmaceutical companies have been involved in some sneaky business.
But do you know who I do trust? The experts, the millions of doctors and researchers who have decades of experience and education behind them.
So here are some facts about the Covid-19 virus, the Delta variant, the Pfizer vaccine and children:
It baffles me that people would take their information from random strangers on internet, who have zero medical training, pick and choose out of context research and articles to act as proof of their biases and call it research.
I understand your concerns, but I will not tolerate your aversion to taking advice from medical experts and spreading unverifiable, coincidental, nonsensical, paranoid misinformation.