Thread by @AllieCrenshaw12

I love you, @RonaldARasband. I believe you are trying your best. I have felt a strong witness that President Nelson is a prophet of God. I also believe that the church’s messaging around Covid needs to change, especially for the sake of our youth. Hear me out (thread) /

During a recent youth fireside in S Africa, a teen asked if he should get vaccinated. You told him to follow the prophet’s counsel & get vaccinated.

Are you aware of the data that for young men, hospitalization 4 vaccine side effects is more likely than Covid hospitalization?/

In fact, the vax poses more threat than Covid itself for young men in a myriad of ways (see ref)

https://twitter.com/martymakary/status/1477709257063768072?s=21

Statistically, it makes no sense for young men to receive this vax. New data out of Germany suggests /

that not a single healthy child in the country between 5-18 has died due to Covid. medrxiv.org/content/10.110… Acc. to Marty Makary of John Hopkins, that trend likely holds true all over, & the number of healthy kids in the US who died from Covid is likely in the single digits. /

Many of our youth have natural immunity as well, which has been shown to create more robust and lasting immunity to the virus than the vaccine itself.

Sweden and Denmark paused the Moderna for this age group. /

& what of the boosters that were just approved for young teens? Will you urge those as well, even though the safety data has not been established?

Protecting others is no longer a justification. The vax does not reduce the chance of spreading Covid, esp in light of new variants/

Many parents do not feel comfortable giving their child this shot that has no long term data about side effects.

When you encourage our children to vaccinate, you are putting them at odds with their parents and creating rifts in families over a medical issue. /

I felt uncomfortable with your black-and-white answer to the teen’s question of vaccination & felt compelled to speak out. You seemed to say that choosing not to get vaccinated means you are not following the prophet. This perpetuates a feeling in the church that /

those who, for personal or medical reasons, do not vaccinate are less worthy or less obedient.

The core question comes down to this: should we be placing a burden on our children to get vaccinated with a possibly risky vaccine under the guise of protecting adults? /

There has been enough pressure on our teens this year. Guilt and burdens placed on their shoulders. They need to feel the love and hope of the savior—not more pressure to get vaccinated, cover their faces, stay away from their friends, etc. Their mental health is failing. /

I understand that we as Latter-day Saints want to be good citizens. But what if being good citizens means asking for more transparency and common sense from our governments? /

To finish, I believe that it is unwise to pressure young men into making this medical decision. Please pray on this and keep it in mind as you speak to the youth in your upcoming youth fireside. /

I’d love to see the church explicitly state that taking the vaccine is a personal decision to be made w medical professionals & parents, w guidance from the Holy Ghost. I send my love & realize we are trying to do the best with the information we have. Thank you for listening

#hearhim #churchofjesuschrist #lds #latterdaysaint