Normalcy COVIDiocy: Who is "Urgency of Normal" and Why Are They In So Much Hurry to Repeal Pandemic Protective Measures?

In the past two or three months, you may have seen a new hashtag online #urgencyofnormal. They are a vocal minority group of doctors and scientists calling for repeal of as many pandemic protective measures as soon as possible, preferably immediately. Their reasoning is the measures are doing more harm than the pandemic itself. They are going as far as claiming that existing measures are just "panic porn". One such spokesperson for this group is Dr. Lucy McBride. 

Dr. Lucy McBride, on CNN, "Doctor says 'panic porn' is hurting her patients"

Are they making any sense? Is the attempt to contain COVID, i.e. masks and vaccines and boosters (there's no lockdown now) doing more harm than good? 

What exactly is the "harm" of these protective measures? 

According to urgencyofnormal.com/our-statement, pandemic and/or its protective measures have caused "youth depression, suspected suicide attempts, drug overdose deaths, and obesity". In their "toolkit", they have also cited polls as evidence of these increases, and dropping grades in 2020 vs 2019. 

What I find interesting is they can only cite an increase in suicide attempts in girls... so boys are not affected?

UrgencyOfNormal Toolkit claims pandemic and/or protective measures have caused harm... to girls? 

Also, just how do you separate harm from the pandemic itself vs. the protective measures designed to combat the pandemic? 

You can't. 

Yet their solution is to stop all the protective measures for children! No masking! Vax or not just go back to school! Pretend there is no pandemic! 

Maintain in-person learning regardless of case counts and vaccination rates. 

So why are they against masking in schools? First they told us that masking is NOT proven to work (i.e. any benefits are not statistically significant). But does it really?

Does the Georgia study really say mask use was not statistically significant? Yes, but... 

They helpfully included a link to the study in the footnotes, and this is where the cracks started to show in their "logic". I will quote from the study's page 5

The 21% lower incidence in schools that required mask use among students was not statistically significant compared with schools where mask use was optional. This finding might be attributed to higher effectiveness of masks among adults, who are at higher risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection but might also result from differences in mask-wearing behavior among students in schools with optional requirements. Mask use requirements were limited in this sample; 65.1% of schools required teacher and staff member mask use and approximately one half (51.5%) required student mask use. Because universal and correct use of masks can reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission (6) and is a relatively low-cost and easily implemented strategy, findings in this report suggest universal and correct mask use is an important COVID-19 prevention strategy in schools as part of a multicomponent approach

(bold and italics added by me)

The UrgencyOfNormal folks took one sentence they liked, and ignored the REAL finding of the study. What the study said was they have no data from the mask "optional" schools. They have no idea what percentage of people are actually wearing or NOT wearing the masks. So it cannot act as a proper control group against "mask required". 

But the UrgencyofNormal folks read it as if it said "masks did not do anything". 

I have not checked the rest of the other studies they cited, but it would not surprise me if they used similar leaps in logic and cherry-picking. 

And based on this, UrgencyOfNormal is calling for an end to ALL school masking. 

But there are a couple other problems with their suppositions... They are basing their numbers on Delta, and omicron, while supposedly milder, is FAR more contagious. 

UrgencyOfNormal claims are based on Delta numbers. Omicron turned out to be FAR FAR WORSE

Let's look at some REAL numbers... CDC mortality of 0-17 year olds as of now, which is over 2 years. Remember to divide by 25.7 (1.7 months into 2022) then times 12 for rough yearly numbers. 

One also wonders where did they get their flu numbers, which seems to be a bit... exaggerated. 

According to CDC, 2019-20 flu season had 188 pediatric flu death (0-17 yrs of age), which tied the record set during 2017-18. So why does their graph show death in the 500's? Can they be... massaging the numbers? Oh, but also look at the 2012-2013 bar... over 1200 deaths? Why does the CDC say only 170 pediatric deaths? Where did they even find these numbers? 

Flu does NOT kill at the rate of two dozen PER WEEK non-stop. 

Another 23 children died from Covid last week according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Parents need to understand that Covid can be quite serious and children can be safely protected through vaccination. #VaccinesSaveLives pic.twitter.com/cwBXiSC8vL

— EMK (@eveamk) February 22, 2022

Oh, and they also claimed that children don't get long COVID. You did read that on the slide, right? The latest results say something very different... AT LEAST 10% of all kids infected with COVID get long COVID. The number can be as high as 20%. And these numbers are based on PRE-OMICRON numbers. The current numbers could be worse, FAR WORSE, and we won't see the results for at least a MONTH after the infection. 

By now, it's clear that UrgencyOfNormal is not based on data as they claimed, but potentially deliberate misinterpretation and/or outright fabrication of data. 

The harm they claimed is based on polls, not science. The comparisons they made are unscientific and based on inflated and possibly fabricated numbers, and out-of-date numbers. And their anti-mask justification is based on deliberate cherry-picking of study results. They also claim the danger is minimal, by minimizing numbers, using outdated numbers, or outright FABRICATING pediatric flu deaths in prior years. 

But let us be absolutely clear:

What UrgencyOfNormal proposed is to get our children back into school without ANY protection, and roll the odds, ASSUMING the vast majority of them will survive, instead of doing EVERYTHING we can to make sure they do.

That is not epidemiology. 

That's playing roulette with someone else's children. 

That's COVIDiot thinking. 

Child COVIDiocy: Latest Data Shows 10% of CHILDREN with COVID become "Long Haulers" (i.e. "long COVID")

One of the most common refrains from antivaxxers about vaccinating children is "children don't need COVID jabs, because they don't get very sick even if they caught COVID". Take a look at JuliaHB1's tweet here just last week. She's a pretty famous talk show host in the UK. 

Children don't need Covid jabs, let alone boosters. And there's not a single study showing mask wearing in the real world has any effect at all. You used to be a journalist who looked at facts rather than virtue signalling to get approval. What happened to you?

— Julia Hartley-Brewer (@JuliaHB1) February 12, 2022

But latest round of science shows very worrying prospects for children who was infected with COVID: 10% of them became sufferers of "long COVID" that lasts months, even years, with symptoms such as rashes, heart palpitations, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, memory struggles, headaches... and more. And the numbers may be conservative. Numbers from Israel indicate 11.2%, and numbers from UK range from 12% to 15% depending on age group. Some doctors are estimating up to 20% of children infected by COVID may be suffering long COVID. 

The worst part about this is the long COVID symptoms typically start 30-days to 6 weeks AFTER the child recovers from mild COVID symptoms. And this data is PRE-OMICRON. We simply don't have enough data on how Omicron is affecting kids... other than hospitalization... and omicron in children accounted for 22% of all COVID hospitalizations in the US for the week ending Feb 10th. 

There is also the question of MIS-C, which is another rare but very serious post-COVID condition, with almost 7000 cases reported in the US, and killed 59, but so far we have not seen a corresponding increase due to omicron. 

CDC had also warned that post-COVID child is more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes, based on pre-Omicron data. 

While symptoms seem worse in older children, experts warn that younger children lack the ability to express nuanced distress or comfort. 

And you have "conservative" hosts denying that children need COVID vaccinations because symptoms are "mild". As a parent, would you not want your children to have EVERY layer of protection you can get, including vaccinations and masks? 

Don't be a COVIDiot. 

Commentator COVIDiocy: British Columnist / Talk Show Host With No Facts Accuse Others of Not Dealing With Facts

Julia Hartley-Brewer, a British TV/Youtube talkshow host / interviewer, and a known conservative, claimed that a fellow show host (MSNBC/Al Jazeera TV) Mehdi Hasan was not dealing with facts. 

Children don't need Covid jabs, let alone boosters. And there's not a single study showing mask wearing in the real world has any effect at all. You used to be a journalist who looked at facts rather than virtue signalling to get approval. What happened to you?

— Julia Hartley-Brewer (@JuliaHB1) February 12, 2022

One does wonder what happened to JHB herself, as NOTHING she claimed is actually true. Let's examine the issues one at a time: a) children don't need COVID jabs, b) children don't need boosters, c) mask-wearing does not work. 

Do Children Need COVID Vaccinations and Boosters? (a,b)

One of the frequent antivaxxer claims is "because Omicron doesn't show heavy symptoms in children, children don't need to be vaccinated against Omicron COVID."

A similar claim is "COVID is no worse than the flu when it comes to children."

Indeed, Daily Mail, a known gossip rag from the UK that occasionally covers real news, claimed that "no healthy child has died from COVID in the UK" as of September 2021. However, that's simply untrue, as fact-checked by FullFacts.org.  Daily Mail also claimed that only 300 or so children were hospitalized for COVID in UK and all but 20 have underlying health conditions, when in truth, the real numbers are over 23x larger... 7050 hospital admissions and 3181 with no underlying health conditions. And this is PRE-Omicron. 

In the US the numbers are not that different. According to CNN, citing CDC data, average of 672 children were admitted to hospital EVER DAY in the final week of January 2022. And this is with US starting offering vaccinations to ages 5+ in September 2021. Though it's clear that vaccinations do little to protect something against Omicron. One needs boosters, and those are not available to children yet. Indeed, that seems why CDC has refrained from recommending vaccinations to under 5 at this time. 

According to CDC as of Mid January 2022,1045 children under 18 have died from COVID. 

Flu kills maybe 5-6 children a year at most. 

Clearly, COVID is much deadlier than the flu, due to its ease of spread, is putting more kids into hospitals despite "lighter" symptoms. 

Evidence is clear: children need COVID vaccinations and boosters as soon as they can get them, but ones that work against Omicron. 

Does Mask-Wearing Help in Reducing COVID? (c)

Logically, mask-wearing makes perfect sense. Don't breathe the COVID virus in, don't breath the COVID virus out if you're infected. But what does the science say? Is what JWB said true, there has been NO study that proves mask-wearing works in the real world? 

There have been SEVERAL studies on this matter, actually. Some even involve kids. 

"An Evidence Review of face masks against COVID-19" by Howard, Huang, Li, et. al published by PNAS concludes "Our review of the literature offers evidence in favor of widespread mask use as source control to reduce community transmission..."

The US CDC data shows that "people who reported always wearing a mask in indoor public settings were less likely to test positive for COVID than people who didn't", and N95/KN95 masks offer significantly lower odds compared to surgical masks or cloth masks. 

And finally, "Association of Child Masking with COVID-19 Related Closures in US Childcare Programs" Published on JAMA Network Open (Jan 2022) concludes: "This survey study of childcare professionals suggests that masking young children is associated with fewer childcare program closures, enabling in-person education. "

The evidence is clear... There were PLENTY studies showing the efficacy of masks, even on children, in the real world, such as childcare facilities. 

Conclusion

Even minor Googling (tm) shows that it is JWB who is not dealing with facts, while JWB accused a fellow talk show host of not dealing with facts. 

COVIDiocy Mythbuster: Children are at low risk of COVID or dying of COVID so they don't need the COVID vaccine

One of the recent anti-vax talking points is centered on children and efforts to protect them before the vaccines become available. And one of the best ways to protect children from COVID without the vaccine was with masks. Yet you have states like Texas and Florida whose governors, eager to court the Qanon vote, banned schools from implementing a mask mandate to protect the children, claiming to be "protecting" the parents' rights. And parents waving signs that say things like "Don't muzzle my child" and "Let them breathe". 

But what is the truth about children and COVID? 

FACT: Children are now 24% of all reported COVID cases in the US (about 100K cases a week). And it's rising fast. (As of early November)

FACT: Children are more likely to show no signs of infection, and less likely to suffer severe symptoms, if they are infected with COVID but they are just as infectious (i.e. capable of passing on COVID to others) as if they are seriously ill. 

In fact, because they show little to no symptoms, they are less likely to be kept home or isolated in hospital, and therefore, potentially infecting even MORE people than if they did fell more severely ill. 

FACT: Masks reduce the severity COVID-19 should you catch it, and reduce transmission risks if you haven't caught it. 

Yet you have COVIDiots show up at school board meetings against children wearing masks to school, screaming about "acne", "funk", "don't make it easy for child predators" and similar WTF reasons, or otherwise repeat antivax talking points that barely make coherent sentences. This inspired a roast on Saturday Night Live. But the threats uttered are no joke. Some parents have resorted to stalking school board members and school officials. School officials have been spat on or struck or have objects thrown at them. A father was arrested for threatening the elementary school principal with "citizen's arrest" with two other men while armed with Zip-ties, all because a child was forced to miss school due to a mandated potential COVID exposure quarantine. 

The situation is so widespread (in many different states) and so vicious in some cases, that the National School Board Association is pleading the Federal Government to step in to stop this new form of domestic terrorism. 

FACT: We have NO data on long-term consequences of children with COVID. We do know children can suffer from long COVID and MIS-C as a result of being exposed to COVID or even living with someone who caught COVID. 

To summarize: Masks and Vaccines are a multi-layered approach to stop children from catching COVID. Even ONE death is too many when we can do something about it. The long-term consequences of suffering through COVID is unknown but very likely worse than any vaccine side effects (if any). And it also prevents the children from infecting others without knowing. 

Therefore it is IMPERATIVE that children be vaccinated against COVID as soon as possible, not only to protect them, from both short-term (COVID) and long-term (MISC-C and long COVID), but also to prevent them from being reservoirs of COVID virus to infect other people. 

So what does that make parents who don't want their children to mask up, get a vaccine, yet go back to school? 

COVIDiots, of course. 

Sad COVIDiocy: Proud unvaxxed and unmasked Mother of 4 died of COVID

An Escalon (southeast of Stockton, CA) mother, a well-known local antivaxxer, had died of COVID on September 15th, 2021. 

Kristen Lowery, who declared herself "unmasked, unmuzzled, unvaccinated, unafraid -- together we win", left behind 4 school-aged children. 

She proclaimed to be a "free-thinker" and an "ex-vaxxer" on various posts. 

If you won't get vaxxed for yourself, would you do it for your children? 

Don't be a COVIDiot. Get vaxxed is the simplest way to protect yourself. 

More COVIDiotcy: Mississippi is losing unvaxxed pregnant mothers and kids (that can't be vaxxed) to COVID

The Daily Beast reported that Mississippi recorded its FIRST infant death due to COVID... since the pandemic began. There is also a surge of pediatric deaths, as well as death of eight pregnant women. 

The baby did not even make it to his or her 1st birthday. 

There are EIGHT reports in the past few weeks of pregnant mothers who died, and all are unvaxxed. Doctors are forced to perform C-sections in the ICU to rescue babies as their mothers inched closer to death. Something like this just do NOT happen pre-COVID. 

Mississippi also reported 72 "fetal death" (death in the womb after 20 weeks) among unvaccinated pregnant mothers with COVID. In other words, you may make it, but your baby may not. COVID increased the chances of pregnant mothers losing their babies. 

But wait, there's more. Mississippi also recorded more pediatric deaths in the last six weeks than the first 17 MONTHS of COVID. 

A full 22% of new COVID cases in Mississippi are of children between 5-17. Keep in mind that vaccines are not fully approved for children, only those that are older than 12. So there's no way to protect the younger children yet except mask them up, and get everyone around them vaccinated.  

Don't be a COVIDiot. #putkidsfirst #getvaxxed