Stats: Out of 13,573 Child Fatalities, COVID Accounts for 3.6% of Deaths - 7 Other Causes Account for 96.4%
We’re in the midst of a pandemic — one where our kids, in some states, have to be masked in school at all times. Naturally, this is a necessity, given that they’re dying in droves from a simple virus.
Well, droves might be the wrong word. And it’s worth noting that, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data from the last few years, fewer children and teens died of COVID than of drowning.
And car crashes. And gun violence. And traffic accidents. And poisoning. And suicide. In fact, the number of deaths from COVID, over the period from May 20, 2020, to Sept. 23, 2021, represented a small percentage of annual child deaths in the United States, according to the U.K.’s Daily Mail.
“Most children in the US die as a result of various accidents, including car crashes, drowning, and from being shot, the CDC says,” the Mail’s Andrea Blanco reported.
“A total of 3,343 children 19 and under lost their lives in traffic accidents in 2019, while there is an estimate of almost 4,000 children dying of fatal accidental drownings every year.
“Poisoning accidents kill 730 children every year in the country.”
These numbers can be seen in the graph below from a World News tweet of the Mail’s article Monday.
Latest US official figures show that 498 children have been killed by COVID since the pandemic began https://t.co/JDCiyqFP1L
— World News (@worldnewstweet_) October 4, 2021
Based on 2019 statistics represented in the chart, 3,960 children died from drowning, 3,434 from car crashes, 3,285 from gun violence, 1,053 from traffic accidents, 730 from poisoning, 534 from suicide and 79 from bike accidents. Only 498 children died from COVID between 2020 and 2021 — this is compared to the 13,075 kids who have died from other unexpected causes.
In other words, your children are almost seven times more likely to die in a car than from COVID-19. They are almost eight times more likely to drown.
Furthermore, most children who contract COVID are asymptomatic or have mild cases.
But don’t worry, they’ll likely get a shot in the arm to ensure that 498 doesn’t creep up.
Last month, BioNTech and Pfizer announced they planned to seek approval for a reduced dose of their COVID vaccine for kids aged 5 to 11 years old.
“Already over the next few weeks, we will file the results of our trial in five to 11 year olds with regulators across the world and will request approval of the vaccine in this age group, also here in Europe,” Chief Medical Officer Oezlem Tuereci said, according to Reuters.
President Joe Biden’s secretary of education wholeheartedly approved.
“We know that vaccination eligibility for our elementary-aged students would be a game changer,” said Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, according to U.S News.
“Not only would it help us keep our schools open and have less quarantining and closures, but it would also help parents breathe a lot easier and increase confidence in communities that their schools are safe.”
And as for the 12 to 17-year-olds it’s now approved for, authorities are doing almost anything they can to ensure they get it.
In Colorado, for instance, a vaccine lottery in which high school students could win $50,000 in scholarships to get the jab has been set up.
“This scholarship sends a clear message to our state that we need you for our Colorado comeback,” said Dr. Angie Paccione, executive director of the Colorado Department of Higher Education, according to KMGH-TV.
That’s the carrot approach. In California, they’re employing the stick: All students 12 to 17 must get vaccinated once the shot receives full Food and Drug Administration approval for that age range, all thanks to a mandate from Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom.
“CA will require our kids to get the COVID-19 vaccine to come to school. This will go into effect following full FDA approval,” Newsom tweeted on Friday.
“Our schools already require vaccines for measles, mumps and more. Why? Because vaccines work. This is about keeping our kids safe & healthy.”
BREAKING: CA will require our kids to get the COVID-19 vaccine to come to school.
This will go into effect following full FDA approval.
Our schools already require vaccines for measles, mumps and more. Why? Because vaccines work.
This is about keeping our kids safe & healthy.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) October 1, 2021
They are laser-focused on making sure that another 498 youngsters don’t die in the next 16 months.
Just so we’re clear, that’s a little over 31 minors a month. Meanwhile, “more than 12,000 children die every year due to injuries including drownings, falls, burns, and road traffic injuries. That equates to around 33 children a day,” according to the Mail.
Are we supposed to assume we’re going to take drastic steps to stop those deaths? There’s no vaccine for that, after all.
No, COVID-19 isn’t “just the flu.” For children and teenagers, however, it’s scarcely fatal — and, for those who end up succumbing to it, there’s likely a pre-existing condition at play.
We don’t see these kinds of precautions being taken for any of the other causes that claim the lives of many more children every year. The thing is, however, that the threat of COVID is real and raw right now. It can pump cortisol into the veins of parents and school administrators everywhere — enough of the stress hormone, in fact, that they no longer read statistics before making decisions.
When situations like that arise, however, bad decisions get made by opportunists and power-trippers. It’s time to start looking at the cold, hard statistics and stop fear-mongering.
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