1/14
18 months into the pandemic and it is still clear that masking children is an ineffective policy not supported by research or data.
I’ve provided 2 sources for each claim but can offer many more if needed.
I’ve also addressed Delta & recent studies at the end of this 🧵
2/14 (1) “our data indicate that children are at far greater risk of critical illness from influenza than from COVID-19.” jamanetwork.com/journals/jamap…
(2) “Children and young people remain at low risk from COVID-19 mortality” osf.io/ezdf2/
3/14 (3) “…children are not the main drivers of SARS-CoV-2 transmission.” cmaj.ca/content/193/17…
(4) Children rarely transmit infection to others and more frequently have an asymptomatic or mild course compared to adults. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.10…
(6) “...could not provide evidence for a relevant asymptomatic spread... in childcare facilities... in a low nor a high prevalence setting.” medrxiv.org/content/10.110…
5/14 (7) “For adults living with children there is no evidence of an increased risk of severe COVID outcomes” medrxiv.org/content/10.110…
(8) Increased household exposure to kids was associated w/ a smaller risk of testing positive or hospitalization w/ Covid medrxiv.org/content/10.110…
8/14 (13) Children have a lower tolerance to wearing masks and may fail to use them properly. ecdc.europa.eu/en/covid-19/qu…
(14) “...household use of face masks is associated with low adherence and is ineffective for controlling seasonal respiratory disease.” ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
(16) Deaf and Disabled children can feel isolated from other children and adults who are wearing masks theguardian.com/world/2020/oct…
10/14 (17) “Extended mask-wearing by the general population could lead to relevant effects and consequences in many medical fields.” mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8…
(18) “Psychosocial, biological, and immunological risks for children and pupils...” bmj.com/content/370/bm…
11/14 (19) School masks: face coverings could damage children's speech development, warn scientists. telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/08/2…
(20) “…wearing masks throughout the day can hinder language and socio-emotional development, particularly for younger children.” aapca2.org/wp-content/upl…
1/16
I never thought I’d have to reiterate that children are not the primary drivers of covid-19
But I guess the desire to vaccinate kids makes folks like @apoorva_nyc & the @nytimes just give up on honest reporting
It’s complete BS
So here are 30 articles for your review 🧵
2/16
Mar 2020: kids have not played a substantive role in the intra-household transmission of Covid medrxiv.org/content/10.110…
Apr 2020: transmission in kids in schools appears considerably less than seen for other respiratory viruses, such as influenza. ncirs.org.au/sites/default/…