We explain what’s known about the two coronavirus vaccines for the youngest children.

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** A Guide to COVID-19 Vaccines for Little Kids
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Children under five years old in the United States are now able to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

But some parents have expressed reluctance ([link removed]) to get their children vaccinated.

It's true that most young children infected with the coronavirus have mild or no symptoms, but some kids have been hospitalized, admitted to the intensive care unit or have died.

In her article, "A Guide to COVID-19 Vaccines for the Youngest Kids, ([link removed]) " Science Editor Jessica McDonald explains what’s known about the two coronavirus vaccines for the youngest children, and how they’re different from their adult and older kid counterparts.

In a Q&A format, Jessie -- the mom of a 1-year-old -- answers such questions as "How effective are the vaccines?" How safe are the vaccines?" "Do experts recommend that all eligible children receive this vaccine?"

Jessie also looked at the latest data, which show around 20,000 ([link removed]) kids 6 months to 4 years old have been hospitalized for COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Additionally, she finds that around 200 kids in that age group have died from COVID-19, a tally that accounts for 1.7% of all deaths from any cause for the age group.

COVID-19 is among the top 10 causes ([link removed]) of death for kids below the age of 1 and for kids 1 to 4 years old.

As with vaccines for adults and older children, the clinical trials for the Pfizer/BioNTech ([link removed]) and Moderna ([link removed]) vaccines for young children did not reveal any serious safety concerns.

That's why many ([link removed]) experts ([link removed]) , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ([link removed]) and American Academy of Pediatrics ([link removed]) recommend that all children 6 months of age and older get vaccinated, unless they have a medical reason not to, such as an allergy to a vaccine ingredient.

And yes, Jessie will be vaccinating her 1-year-old, although she’s waiting a little since her daughter had COVID-19 recently.
HOW WE KNOW
An image of a bizarre Fourth of July tweet purportedly from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene began circulating on July 4. The Georgia Republican is known for the outrageous ([link removed]) , but was this tweet real? To find out, Staff Writer Saranac Hale Spencer first searched MTG's verified Twitter account ([link removed]) and couldn't find it. She then used ProPublica's online tool called Politwoops ([link removed]) , which archives deleted tweets from politicians. Sara found no deleted MTG tweets ([link removed]) about the Fourth of July. This is how we smoke out fake tweets.
FEATURED FACT
Two of the most commonly used cell strains in vaccine development or manufacturing are MRC-5 ([link removed]) and WI-38 ([link removed]) , which were made decades ago from lung tissue taken from two different aborted fetuses in the U.K. and Sweden in the 1960s ([link removed]) . The rubella vaccine, for example, which is part of the measles, mumps, and rubella, or MMR, vaccine, is still manufactured today ([link removed]) by growing large quantities of WI-38 cells. Other vaccines produced in fetal cell lines include ([link removed]) chickenpox, hepatitis A and one of the rabies vaccines.
WORTHY OF NOTE
For more than a dozen years, we have offered University of Pennsylvania undergraduates a chance to participate in a year-round, paid fellowship program at FactCheck.org.

The students review transcripts, conduct research, fact-check our articles prior to publication, respond to readers and even do some reporting and writing.

Our new fellows for the 2022-23 academic year are now participating in a summer training program. For information about them and the program, visit our Undergraduate Fellows ([link removed]) page.
REPLY ALL

Reader: What's a valid explanation for all the unknown "unexpected" deaths, myocarditis, and strokes due to clots in the recently vaccinated? Health issues in young ppl who have no issues? I feel like this is an ignored issue and the health and science communities along with media need to be addressing this. It's not a coincidence. Something obviously has to be in these shots that's killing people. And then the question...why?

FactCheck.org Director Eugene Kiely: You claim there are large numbers of unexpected health issues and deaths in the recently vaccinated, but there is no evidence of that.

You may be thinking of reports to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, which is jointly run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration. VAERS is the nation’s early warning system ([link removed]) to detect possible safety problems with vaccines after they are rolled out to the public. Some have misinterpreted VAERS data to suggest the vaccines are dangerous.

But, as Science Editor Jessica McDonald has written ([link removed]) , VAERS data and other safety monitoring systems have shown there are only a few, rare safety concerns with the vaccines. Those include heart inflammation ([link removed]) for the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna mRNA vaccines and a blood clotting disorder ([link removed]) coupled with low platelets for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. (For more, see “How safe are the vaccines ([link removed]) ,” which we last updated on May 17.)

The issue is not that the health and science communities are ignoring reports to the VAERS system or that the media is not addressing these concerns. It’s that some anti-vaccine activists have misused VAERS to falsely claim that the vaccines have caused many deaths and injuries, when in fact such cases are rare.

This email response has been edited for length.


** Wrapping Up
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Here's what else we've got for you this week:
* "Noem’s Misleading Claim About Safety of Medication Abortion ([link removed]) ": The Food and Drug Administration and numerous peer-reviewed academic studies have concluded that medication abortions are “safe and effective” and that serious adverse events are relatively rare. But South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem misleadingly called medication abortions "very dangerous medical procedures."
* "Herbal Recipes for Abortion Are Unproven and Can Be Dangerous, Contrary to Social Media Posts ([link removed]) ": Taking unregulated herbal cocktails to cause an abortion can be dangerous, obstetricians say. But recipes — some containing potentially toxic ingredients — for self-induced “miscarriages” have been circulating online since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
* "Gasoline Prices Up Due to Global Supply-Demand Issues, Russian Invasion of Ukraine ([link removed]) ": U.S. presidents have little control over the price that consumers pay for gasoline. It depends mostly on the price of crude oil, which is set on the global market, based largely on worldwide supply and demand. Yet Republican campaign ads have falsely claimed or suggested that President Joe Biden and Democrats are solely to blame for the prices that motorists are paying at the pump.
* "COVID-19 Vaccines Don’t Contain Fetal Tissue ([link removed]) ": Despite persistent claims to the contrary, none of the three authorized or approved COVID-19 vaccines contains fetal tissue. We take a look at the facts in light of Justice Clarence Thomas’ dissent.
* "Planned Parenthood Centers Remain Open Following the Ruling on Roe v. Wade ([link removed]) ": Planned Parenthood has not closed any of its health centers after the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, the organization told us. But social media posts falsely claim that Planned Parenthood clinics have been closing “all over the country” since the ruling. Some clinics have ceased performing abortions but are still providing health services.
* "Fabricated Fourth of July Tweet Was Not from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene ([link removed]) ": Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was among the many politicians who posted Fourth of July messages on social media. But a bogus, nonsensical July Fourth tweet purportedly from the congresswoman has been spread by partisan accounts. The post was meant as a spoof.
* "Abortion Is Sometimes Medically Necessary, Contrary to Facebook Posts ([link removed]) ": There are life-threatening complications in which abortion is medically necessary, and social media posts claiming otherwise are incorrect, physicians said. “In some situations, abortion is the only medical intervention that can preserve a patient’s health,” the president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists told us.

Y lo que publicamos en español ([link removed]) (English versions are accessible in each story):
* "Las vacunas contra el COVID-19 no contienen tejido fetal ([link removed]) ": A pesar de las persistentes afirmaciones sobre lo contrario, ninguna de las tres vacunas COVID-19 autorizadas o aprobadas contiene tejido fetal. Echamos un vistazo a los hechos a la luz de la disidencia del juez Clarence Thomas.
* "Biden se adjudica demasiado mérito por la disminución de muertes por COVID-19 ([link removed]) ": Mientras Estados Unidos experimenta una caída importante en la cantidad de muertes diarias y la ola de la variante ómicron sigue su curso, el presidente Joe Biden se ha jactado repetidamente de que su “estrategia ha reducido las muertes por COVID en un 90%”. Esa cifra es precisa, pero los expertos dicen que la caída es en gran parte atribuible a una serie de factores que están fuera del control del presidente.
* "Sitio web promueve una falacia antigua y desacreditada sobre las vacunas de ARNm contra el COVID-19 ([link removed]) ": Un directivo de la empresa farmacéutica alemana Bayer se refirió a las vacunas de ARNm usadas contra el COVID-19 como un ejemplo de innovación en biotecnología, durante la Cumbre Mundial de la Salud 2021. Pero una publicación en internet descontextualiza los comentarios del ejecutivo para afirmar falsamente que señaló que las vacunas son terapia genética.

Have a question about COVID-19 and the vaccines? Visit our SciCheck page ([link removed]) for answers. It's available in Spanish ([link removed]) , too.
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