Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Palestinian media: Israeli vehicles fire at eastern Gaza City.
Al-Qassam Brigades: We will hand over the body of one of the occupation prisoners that was exhumed today in the Gaza Strip at 9 pm Gaza time.
Al Mayadeen correspondent to southern Lebanon: One martyr and one wounded in the initial toll of an Israeli drone strike targeting the town of Al-Bayyad.
Local sources report that a car bomb explosion has targeted the General Security headquarters near the Baniyas Court in the Tartous countryside, western Syria
Israeli artillery strikes target Khan Younis, the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian media: IOF arrest leader Jamal al-Tawil, who was liberated as part of the prisoner exchange, from his home in al-Bireh.
Palestinian media: 'Israel' launches two airstrikes on eastern Khan Younis, Gaza.
Al Mayadeen’s correspondent in Gaza: Israeli occupation forces carry out demolitions in eastern Gaza City.
Venezuelan Foreign Ministry: The National Armed Forces will remain on alert and mobilized in the face of this extremely dangerous provocation.
Venezuelan Foreign Ministry: This is not a defense exercise, but rather a military aggression aimed at turning the Caribbean into a space for violence and US hegemony.

Vaccine misinformation puts children at risk of Omicron in US

  • By Al Mayadeen net
  • Source: Agencies
  • 22 Jan 2022 11:49
4 Min Read

The rise of Omicron infections in children in the US has shed light on how the decisions of parents regarding the vaccine are taking a toll on children.

  • x
  • How misinformation about vaccines puts children at risk of infection
    The spread of Omicron has turned the tables for children.

Although children have been mostly spared the misery that comes with Covid infections, the spread of Omicron has turned the tables and resulted in a record number of child illnesses and hospitalizations in the US.

Vaccine misinformation and promoted hesitancy are only exacerbating the risk for children. From concerns that the injections were created too rapidly to incorrect assertions that the jabs might affect future fertility, Phoenix Children's Hospital physician Wassim Ballan said battling disinformation has become part of his work.

Although the risk of fatalities remains low, the vaccines significantly lower the rate of serious disease or illnesses, and vaccinated mothers may pass on the protection. 

According to Ballan, "Unfortunately, a lot of times when we're having this time with a family to discuss these things is when the child is already in hospital."

In the US, just 27% of children aged five to eleven had gotten their first dose of the vaccination. This month, hospitalizations hit a high of 914 children per day, a significant increase from the previous top of 342 in September 2021.

The mother of all protection

In the first week of January 2022, Texas Children's Hospital in Houston reported 12 kids in intensive care with Covid-19. 

Babies are too young for the Covid-19 shot, but according to Kathryn Gray, an attending physician of maternal-fetal medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital, research suggests that vaccination during pregnancy means antibodies are safely transferred to the baby, providing protection, although limited.

Expectant moms have also expressed reluctance to receive the vaccine after being excluded from earlier clinical studies.

Related News

US cargo plane lands in Syria base as IOF escalate Quneitra breaches

Nearly 3,800 US flights disrupted amid ongoing government shutdown

Gray says she "has a lot of confidence" when telling patients the vaccine is safe for mother and child.

"If they truly want to protect their infants, getting vaccinated is the thing that will protect them the most at this time."

Global health organizations say the same thing, yet the initial absence of evidence is still being used in anti-vaccine rhetoric on social media. Posts on Facebook and Twitter stated that stillbirths increased as a result of the effort to vaccinate pregnant women, despite the fact that being unprotected against the infection poses a bigger danger.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Carla DeSisto and Sascha Ellington claimed data from 1.2 million US births indicated "no evidence the rate of stillbirths is higher overall during the pandemic."

The researchers did disclose however that being infected during pregnancy brings an increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes including preterm birth and stillbirth.

Breastfeeding has also been the focus of disinformation, with posters suggesting that breastfeeding from a vaccinated mother caused rashes or even death.

The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine promotes immunization for nursing women and states that there is no need to discontinue breastfeeding after obtaining the vaccine.

Misinformation has become more widespread as parents interact to share and sell breast milk online. Bethany Bristow, a member of one of the largest such pages, expressed worry over demands for "unvaccinated milk".

The New York woman and her fellow moderators decided to prohibit such requests, and the rules for her group of over 10,500 parents now state: "Advertising or requesting vaccine-free milk puts you, your children, and community at risk."

According to Luara Ward, co-director of the Center for Breastfeeding Medicine at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, "Antibodies have been detected in the breast milk of vaccinated lactating women. This means that breastfed infants may have some protection against Covid-19 if their mothers receive the vaccine."

"Any concerns or unknown pieces about the vaccine are dwarfed by the risk of Covid."

  • United States
  • COVID-19
  • Omicron
  • Vaccines

Most Read

'Israel’s Digital Iron Dome: Weaponizing the web against Palestine

'Israel’s Digital Iron Dome: Weaponizing the web against Palestine

  • Technology
  • 24 Oct 2025
Arab League chief exposes secret US deal shielding 'Israel’s' nukes

Arab League chief exposes secret US deal shielding 'Israel’s' nukes

  • Politics
  • 27 Oct 2025
Abu Hamza, the spokesperson for the Al-Quds Brigades, during a speech televised on October 22, 2025 (Al-Quds Brigades Military Media)

Al-Quds Brigades' Abu Hamza mourns leaders, vows continued resistance

  • Politics
  • 22 Oct 2025
US missionary kidnapped in Niger capital, suspected taken toward Mali

US missionary kidnapped in Niger capital, suspected taken toward Mali

  • Africa
  • 23 Oct 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
Delta Air Lines flight lands at Harry Reid International Airport, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Las Vegas (AP)
Politics

Nearly 3,800 US flights disrupted amid ongoing government shutdown

FILE - The Amazon logo is pictured at the Amazon Robotic Sorting Fulfillment Center in Madison County, Miss., Aug. 11, 2022. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)
Economy

Amazon to cut 30,000 jobs in largest layoff in company history

Eurofighter Typhoon Spain's Air Force fighter jets fly above the military parade marking 'Día de la Hispanidad', or Hispanic Day, in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (AP)
Politics

UK sells 20 Eurofighter jets to Türkiye in £8bn defense agreement

Smoke billows after drone strikes by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) targeted the northern port in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan, Sudan, May 6, 2025 (AP)
Politics

RSF tightens El Fasher siege as Sudan risks fragmentation: Reuters

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS