FDA panelist says we'll never learn how safe the COVID vaccine is for kids age 5-11 until we start giving it

As Twitchy reported last week, the White House quietly rolled out its plan for vaccinating children ages 5-11, in advance of an FDA advisory committee meeting to discuss authorizing the COVID-19 vaccine for children in that age range.

That advisory committee met this week and voted unanimously to approve COVID vaccines for children in that age group. We don’t know about you, but vaccination becomes a whole different ballgame when young children become involved. One panelist argued that we’ll never learn about the safety of the vaccine until we start giving it.

JUST IN: FDA Panel votes 17-0 to approve vaccines for children ages 5-11…

Dr. Ruben on the FDA panel: "We're never gonna learn about how safe the vaccine is until we start giving it. That's the way it goes."

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— Matt Couch (@RealMattCouch) October 26, 2021

“I do think it’s a relatively close call,” said adviser Dr. Eric Rubin of Harvard University. “It’s really going to be a question of what the prevailing conditions are but we’re never going to learn about how safe this vaccine is unless we start giving it.”

— Philnonymous (@Philnonymous1) October 27, 2021

He’s not necessarily wrong, but “that’s the way it goes” isn’t the science we were looking for.

Um https://t.co/2YbVHSBDhb

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) October 27, 2021

I'm overwhelmed with a feeling of confidence and security. https://t.co/hhtJLNfJoZ

— Abigail Shrier (@AbigailShrier) October 27, 2021

Just the way it goes???

— Sandy Thiel (@SandyThiel1) October 27, 2021

They really said that out loud?? 😬😬

— mjhubbard🇺🇸CHINA LIED (@mjhubbard1) October 27, 2021

I found no information on the CDC website stating that the vax prevents transmission of the virus, only protects the vaccinated person against severe symptoms or death. But we are preparing to give millions of kids a vax that they aren’t statistically at risk of?

— Bob Grupp (@bobgrupp75) October 27, 2021

As we reported last week, the Biden administration bought 65 million pediatric doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, enough to give shots to the estimated 28 million children in that age range.

The FDA advisory panel has approved COVID-19 vaccinations for children ages 5-11.

Children have around a 2 in 1,000,000 chance of dying from COVID.

— Dr. David Samadi (@drdavidsamadi) October 26, 2021

Even lower for healthy kids if you strip out those with comorbidities such as diabetes and obesity, clearly stated in the FDA report.

— Brrrrrr (@ptrckbtmn4000) October 26, 2021

Will be interesting to see which parents are willing to put their kids in the front of the line

— 🌴 Florida Homes & Beaches 🌴⛱🏡 (@Floridahomelife) October 26, 2021

A lot of parents certainly will, but our question is when are school districts going to start mandating the vaccine for 5- to 11-year-olds? Union president Randi Weingarten called it “great, great news” in September when Pfizer determined that its vaccine in low doses is safe for children 5-11. Vaccinate your first-grader to keep the already-vaccinated teacher safe from the coronavirus?

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