In an effort to assist people who, according to one signer, have been “steamrolled” by draconian COVID-19 guidelines, a letter from prominent medical professionals this week urged the Biden administration to revise its mitigation guidelines for children.
“Many COVID policies have steamrolled the most defenseless people in America,” Dr. Marty Makary told Fox News Digital. “Waiters, waitresses, and children were the last people in America to be forced to wear masks… At this point, we must put an end to the excessive regulations that continue to harm children. That’s why I agreed to participate.”
Makary was one of 29 doctors and scientists who signed the Urgency of Normal letter, which was formed in response to concerns that continued COVID-19 measures for children in the United States are doing more harm than good and rejecting a holistic approach to pediatric health. Dr. Ashish Jha, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator, and Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, declared that the coronavirus emergency phase has ended and that it is now time to restore normalcy “All children should have equitable and maximum access to education, sports, and social connections. It is critical to their health and well-being.”
“Many European countries, United States states, and Canadian provinces have already updated their COVID-19 policies to reflect that vaccines and infection-acquired immunity have reduced the risk of a severe COVID-19 outcome for youth, and to acknowledge that all mitigation measures have unintended consequences.” Massachusetts, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Norway, British Columbia, and others have recommended an end to routine screening testing and mandatory isolation periods for children.
Coronavirus has become more of a bad cold for most people, she says, thanks to widespread vaccinations, milder variants, and protective natural immunity. Despite this, elementary schools still send children home for five days if they test positive for COVID-19, regardless of symptoms, and college students can’t stay on campus unless they’ve been boosted.
The letter emphasized the disastrous consequences of prolonged school closures, such as learning loss, widening achievement gaps between high- and low-income students, rising mental health issues, and long-term educational disruptions. Throughout the pandemic, children have been statistically at a low risk of severe outcomes from the virus; according to the CDC, those aged 0-17 account for approximately 22.3 percent of the U.S. population but account for approximately 0.1 percent of all COVID-19 deaths.
The letter argued that it is long past time for the Biden administration to catch up with the rest of the world and relax the stringent measures.
Among their recommendations was to replace asymptomatic testing with a “test-to-treat” approach that focuses on treating vulnerable and immunocompromised children, as well as to reverse the CDC’s recommendation against vaccinating and boosting healthy children. The CDC continues to recommend “universal” indoor mask use in areas of high COVID transmission, “screening testing for high-risk activities such as indoor sports and extracurricular activities,” and isolating unvaccinated individuals for at least five days if exposed to COVID-19.
The letter arrived the same week that the Biden administration increased efforts to vaccinate children under the age of five, the last age group that has not been immunized. Makary, a Johns Hopkins health policy expert and surgeon, wondered why there is such “disproportionate enthusiasm” for vaccinating children under the age of five.
Makary and Saphier blame the media for the United States remaining a “outlier” in COVID mitigation measures. According to a study published last year, U.S. media coverage has been far more negative than that of the rest of the world, with serious consequences, particularly for more liberal readers. Bill Maher, the HBO late-night host, chastised the liberal press for “scared the s—t” out of people by leading them to believe a COVID diagnosis would land them in the hospital.
Saphier, whose book “Panic Attack” delves into what she calls “politics with science” surrounding COVID-19, claims that fear was spread throughout the pandemic by the media.
