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Jan 25 • 7 tweets • 6 min read
Fourteen medical professionals launch toolkit to support a return to normalcy for US children.

The #UrgencyOfNormal for kids is real, as mental, physical health costs accumulate.

HT @JeanneNoble18 @drlucymcbride @MonicaGandhi9 @korystotesbery @notaproviderMD @TracyBethHoeg +
.@DrScottBalsitis @DrAmyBeck @doctortara @JVergales @etholland71. 🙏🙏🙏

The authors are hosting a live Q&A this evening:
The toolkit compiles the evidence for normalcy that parents talk about all the time on Twitter.

Having it in one place, compiled by doctors, is so helpful.

I appreciate the tone, too:

“Please use it with compassion and understanding. We’ve all been through a lot.”
The #UrgencyOfNormal authors aren’t the only ones saying these things, mind you.

@ScottGottliebMD has been taking about the need to relax mask rules for kids:
.@ashishkjha is talking about relaxing mask mandates.

It’s time.
And don’t forget that the @CDCgov tacitly acknowledged the risk of masks to children’s development months ago:
Parents are ready to prioritize their kids’ education over endless mitigation.

It’s time.

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More from @karenvaites

Karen Vaites Profile picture
Jan 26
Huge props to @michelleinbklyn for noting the change to the @CDCgov mask guidance for developing kids... marking the second time we have seen this important change in print!

Also, I agree with virtually all of her column, with one critical callout...

nytimes.com/2022/01/24/opi…
The only big difference between @michelleinbklyn and I is that she still believes masks work in schools.

Alas...

The weak evidence for this has been clear for a while. Start here for @davidzweig's reporting that really advanced awareness on this point.

nymag.com/intelligencer/…
I advocated for masks in schools for the full 20-21 school year, based on what we saw in adult studies.

By summer ‘21, I couldn’t ignore the growing sense that we didn’t have evidence for it.

Then this came out.

@michelleinbklyn, can you tell age at which masks were reqd?
Read 8 tweets
Karen Vaites Profile picture
Jan 26
The best sign that the #UrgencyOfNormal authors occupy the reasonable middle on children’s restrictions:

They are critiqued (sometimes misrepresented) by those who want continued restrictions for kids…

And by those who think they didn’t go far enough to disown ventilators.
It’s a difficult time to advance moderate positions, and to attempt to combat the fears that permeate America right now.

For some, fear of COVID – some of which IS disproportionate to actual risk. (Good thread below.)

For others, fear of Forever Excessive Restrictions.
I’m grateful to a group of medical professionals for taking on a challenging topic, speaking with empathy, & trying to present accurate data.

They began last night’s webinar sharing link to a revised version of their resource, which incorporated fair feedback.

How refreshing!
Read 4 tweets
Karen Vaites Profile picture
Jan 19
A cultural reflection:

I’ve watched as parents who advocated for school reopening – initially w/ masks (based on early assumptions RE efficacy) have received more chilly reception after later questioning evidence RE masks in schools.

Then this month, @CDCgov sounded like us.🤔
When @davidzweig wrote this still-essential piece on the lack of Randomized Clinical Trials of masks in schools…

Parents were all:

“Well, those $2.99 Old Navy masks slipping down our kids’ faces could definitely have some shortcomings.” 🤷‍♀️

nymag.com/intelligencer/…
Suddenly in December, White House BFF Leana Wen is calling cloth masks facial decorations, and by January…

Now It Can Be Said.
Read 11 tweets
Karen Vaites Profile picture
Jan 19
Remember that time that schools reopened across the US in fall, 2021… and the lack of a surge debunked the myths about risks of school reopening?

Now we have the Omicron edition:
Same story in Philly:
And will you look at that decline in NYC since schools reopened!

<swoon>
Read 4 tweets
Karen Vaites Profile picture
Jan 18
Did you know the @CDCgov changed the mask guidance a few months back, to call for cloth masks with clear panels for children learning to read, among other cases related to speech and language development + special needs?

See:
cdc.gov/coronavirus/20…

I have feelings about this.
Looks like a September update.

Which is interesting timing; speech pathologists have been talking about the need for masks with clear panels since early in the pandemic.

I mean…

Let’s talk about why none of us knew about the change.

The @CDCgov coming out to finally acknowledge that masks impede children’s reading & speech development would seem important, no?

You’d think @CDCDirector would broadcast. Or at least we’d see tweets.

Anyone heard a peep?
Read 11 tweets
Karen Vaites Profile picture
Jan 17
Every word of @jonathanchait's latest.

Progressives (in many regions) allowed / enabled the greatest domestic policy error of our lifetimes.

And very few are willing to publicly own that fact.

THAT's the source of the dismay and the eroding trust.

nymag.com/intelligencer/…
I won’t soon forget that in the Great Debate between @ClaraJeffery and @NateSilver538, Jeffery was basically erasing last year’s school closure history.

Fact check: 53% of schools were closed in 1st week of Jan ‘21, and 37% hadn’t yet been opened (source: @BurbioCalendar).
US children lost historic amounts of school & became a global outlier among wealthy nations.

Pundits on the left just want to talk about how most schools are open now.

Guess what? Your actions 21 months into pandemic aren't the ones you'll be judged on.

Read 7 tweets

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