This suggests that something other than COVID is responsible for the excess deaths now, or that deaths caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection in children are being wrongly attributed to some other pathogen on death certificates
Excess deaths from disease in school-aged children have been elevated since May of 2022 and show no sign of diminishing
Note that the number of monthly COVID deaths (yellow line) plus expected deaths (white line) does not reach the black line (actual deaths)
As you can clearly see here, deaths in school-aged children are now a year-round phenomenon
And it's getting worse, not better. Take a look at the data labelled "incomplete data"
It's incomplete because all of the death certificates haven't been counted there
The numbers will go up
Monthly deaths from disease in school-aged children (5-17yo)
Prior to the pandemic, deaths from disease in children were extremely seasonal -- peaking around Jan/Feb of every year
COVID changed that pattern dramatically
If the German people had reacted like this to the Nazi stormtroopers when they went around disappearing people who were enemies of the Regime
The whole world would have been spared the horrors of WW II
COVID vs. Influenza report
In May 2025:
180 people died from their influenza infections
643 people died from their SARS-CoV-2 (COVID) infections (4x influenza)
COOL!
Can you say "stock pump?"
AI is an enormous bubble that has been wildly over-promised and that will wildly-under deliver
And there will be hell to pay in the markets when the Grift is up
It’s been around since 1983.
@wendyorent.bsky.social minor tidbit about "masks harming kids," but Zweig is likely citing a myth propagated by WaPo's Leana Wen, who insisted masks impeded speech development in kids, even though that mostly happens in the home. Wrote about it here: www.panaccindex.info/p/profile-le...
I'm not saying anything that they're not planning on doing anyway
Yes, we are going to see all vaccine recommendations for children dropped by the end of the year
Given HHS has decided to stop recommending SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations in children but continue recommending Influenza vaccinations...
...I submit:
Total deaths due to three infectious pathogens in children, 2020-present:
COVID: 2,046
Influenza: 875
RSV: 190
The most transparent, pro free-speech administration in history would like you to know that US universities can do necessary research work for the country, raising our standard of living...
...so long as they don't say anything that the tyrant dislikes
The maximum vaccination rate is given on this chart:
For 12-17yo, 63% of the population received at least one initial COVID vaccine
For those 5-11: 34%
For those 2-4: 5.5%
For those 0-1: 4%
And that was as of two years ago. Virtually no US child has had a vaccination within the last year
Pediatric SARS-CoV-2 vaccination rates in the USA are virtually nonexistent
At this point it's safe to say that while most children have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 multiple times, most children are also not vaccinated against the SARS-CoV-2 virus
Viral infection are a significant cause of chronic heart disease as well as acute events such as stroke or cardiac arrest
We see this in the data. Pediatric >cardiovascular mortality< for instance corresponds nicely with periods of high viral infection in children
This is absolutely true
But if we are going to communicate this information to the public it is extremely important that when we talk about excess deaths we say what they are excess TO -- exactly what you are saying
I steadfastly avoid pointing out the massive racial disparity in mortality outcomes from COVID
Why?
Because when powerful White Men hear that a deadly viral pathogen only affects poor Black people and not them, they stop doing anything about it
Saying kids don't need to be vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 infections because they are being constantly re-infected is STRAIGHT out of the Great Barrington Declaration
It's not surprising Mina is parroting the economic desires of a right-wing think tank to restore the status quo "for the economy"
But the question of whether children need annual vaccines to protect against the latest circulating variants is more contentious. Children might not benefit as much as adults would from a yearly shot because their immune systems can remember vaccinations for much longer, said Dr. Michael Mina, a former professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health who has extensively studied Covid. Another argument against annual shots is that most children in the United States now have some degree of protection from previous infections or vaccinations.
Absolutely incredible
The arguments in favor of NOT vaccinating children against SARS-CoV-2 are:
1. Children have long immune memories. So no more annual flu vaccine for kids?
2. Children are repeatedly & serially infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Each infection is actually a vaccination
ALL IT TOOK TO GET HUMANS TO DISMANTLE PUBLIC HEALTH FOREVER, AND ESPECIALLY FOR THEIR OWN FUTURE SPAWN, WAS MAKING THEM GET GIVE UP HAPPY HOUR FOR TWO WEEKS BACK IN SPRING 2020.
"Covid shot no longer recommended for healthy kids and pregnant women"
1. SARS-CoV-2 continues to be the leading cause of death from infectious disease in healthy kids
2. Pregnant women by definition have impaired immune function and are one of the highest-risk groups for SARS-CoV-2 infection
"Covid [vaccination] no longer recommended for healthy kids and pregnant women"
1. SARS-CoV-2 is the leading cause of death from infectious disease in children
2. Pregnant women have impaired immune function and are one of the highest-risk groups for SARS-CoV-2 infection
This is just evil
for the US
I don't have as problem with that but it should be a little more clear from the get-go since most other estimates of US excess mortality, including mine, are much lower (though still incredibly high)
Yes, I understand that now. If I understand it, you are using European mortality baselines and then applying those baselines to US mortality data to produce the excess death estimates
Given that the US has terribly high mortality rates compared to Europe this will produce inflated excess estimates
Yeah, except we don't see that happening in any age bracket other than those aged 45-74 years old
For all other ages, particularly the young, mortality continues at a very high rate
Excess Deaths vs. COVID infections 2020-present
I calculate 25,104 excess deaths from disease and 33,727 a-cause excess deaths for 2023
705K excess deaths in 2023 is simply not credible at any level
Probably. But given the inaccuracies with measuring wastewater concentrations it's hard to say definitively
But the correlation between WW levels and COVID deaths is remarkable
Yes, sadly the pandemic is ongoing for one class of people -- those aged 5-17
It's stopped for us older adults
But for children it keeps on going, relentlessly
When are we going to talk about this?
I'm guessing it's an Inconvenient Truth
So, never?
That's the same chart as I did for all ages except it's now restricted to the 5-17yo age group
Why does that chart look so different than the all-ages one?
More important, why does it look like the pandemic did not end in February 2024 for children?
Here's why
