Elmo advertises COVID-19 vaccination for kids under 5 in new PSA



"Sesame Street" is promoting COVID-19 vaccines to children under 5 after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted emergency authorization to use the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech shots in young children earlier this month.

Elmo — the children show's beloved three-year-old red Muppet character — received the COVID-19 vaccine in a new public service announcement released Tuesday by Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind "Sesame Street." In a short video, Elmo's Muppet dad Louie says he talked to their family pediatrician about having his son vaccinated.

"I had a lot of questions about Elmo getting the COVID vaccine. Was it safe? Was it the right decision?" Louie said in the PSA. "I learned that Elmo getting vaccinated is the best way to keep himself, our friends, neighbors and everyone else healthy and enjoying the things they love."

\u201cIt's okay to have questions about COVID-19 vaccines for children! Elmo's dad Louie talked to their pediatrician, and learned that Elmo getting vaccinated is the best way to keep him and his whole neighborhood safe and healthy! #CaringForEachOther\u201d
— Sesame Street (@Sesame Street) 1656423000

The PSA directs parents of young children to go to GetVaccineAnswers.org if they have questions related to vaccinating their kids. It was produced in partnership with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

"Nearly 5.7 million child cases of COVID-19 have been reported nationally in 2022 alone, making vaccination an important step to protecting both kids and their families against the highly contagious virus and its variants," Sesame Workshop said in a press release.

The FDA approved the vaccines for use in children under 5 years old earlier in June after an expert panel recommended the agency do so.

Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine may be administered as a primary series of two doses, one month apart, to infants as young as six months old through 17 years of age. A third primary dose is authorized to be administered one month after the second dose for immunocompromised children.

The Pfizer vaccine is given in three primary doses, with the first two doses administered three weeks apart and a third dose given eight weeks after the second dose for individuals six months through four years of age.

As of June 22, nearly 30% of children ages 5 to 11 and almost 60% of children ages 12 to 17 have been fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.

“As with all vaccines for any population, when authorizing COVID-19 vaccines intended for pediatric age groups, the FDA ensures that our evaluation and analysis of the data is rigorous and thorough,” FDA official Dr. Peter Marks said on June 17.

“In addition to making certain the data for these vaccines met FDA’s rigorous standards, the agency’s convening of an advisory committee was part of a transparent process to help the public have a clear understanding of the safety and effectiveness data supporting the authorization of these two vaccines for pediatric populations,” he added.

Sesame Workshop's PSA is the continuation of a campaign the company launched last year to encourage adults and children to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who had previously called the nonprofit's vaccine PSAs "government propaganda," criticized "Sesame Street" for the new PSA with Elmo and asserted there is "ZERO scientific evidence" to support COVID-19 vaccination in young children.

\u201cThanks, @sesamestreet for saying parents are allowed to have questions!\n\nYou then have @elmo aggressively advocate for vaccinating children UNDER 5. \n\nBut you cite ZERO scientific evidence for this. Learn more:\n\nhttps://t.co/Ss20TmFTSB\u201d
— Ted Cruz (@Ted Cruz) 1656434353

Cruz and a handful of other Republican lawmakers sent a letter to the FDA on June 8 requesting information to assess the risk COVID-19 poses to children under 5 and the necessity of vaccination for that age group.

Dr. Jeanette Betancourt, senior vice president of U.S. social impact at Sesame Workshop, said that parents will "understandably have questions about the COVID-19 vaccines for young children.

“With help from Elmo and his dad Louie, we want to model real conversations, encourage parents’ questions, and help children know what to expect,” Betancourt said. “We’re proud to continue our efforts with the Ad Council, COVID Collaborative, CDC, and AAP to help families get connected to information and keep their children, neighbors, and communities safe and healthy."

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Disney Cruise Line now requires children ages 5 years old and up to be fully vaccinated in order to travel



Disney Cruise Line now requires all children ages 5 years old and up to be fully vaccinated in order to travel on the company's liners.

What are the details?

On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that the company updated its immunization policy that day in order to reflect the new change.

The newly updated vaccine mandate will go into effect on Jan. 13 and will apply to all trips, domestic and international.

Until Jan. 13, all unvaccinated children between the ages of 5 and 11 will be required to undergo pre-departure COVID-19 testing, and passengers 4 years of age and under will also be required to complete testing requirements.

The new update, on on the company's website, reads, "Currently, Disney Cruise Line continues to require all vaccine-eligible Guests (based on US eligibility requirements) to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, as defined by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), at the time of sailing. This will be a requirement for all Guests (US and international) ages 5 and up for sailings beginning on or after January 13, 2022."

"Guests who are not vaccine-eligible because of age must provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test result (paid for by the Guest) taken between 3 days and 24 hours before their sail date," the update added. "Guests ages 5 through 11 may complete this testing requirement in lieu of being fully vaccinated for sailings that depart before January 13, 2022. Guests 4 years of age and under must complete the testing requirements. The test should be a NAAT test, rapid PCR test or lab-based PCR test. Rapid antigen tests are not accepted."

What else?

The Times pointed out that other major cruise lines may soon follow suit and cited Royal Caribbean CEO Richard Fain, who said that he believes things are moving in that direction.

“I think we're moving in the direction where every cruise will have 100 percent of the crew vaccinated and 95 or more percent of the guests," he said in remarks earlier this month.

Disney Cruise Line concluded its update, "As we set sail again, the health and safety of our Guests, Cast Members and Crew Members is a top priority. Our focus remains on operating our ships in a responsible way that continues to create magic for all on board. We are resuming sailing in a gradual, phased approach that emphasizes multiple layers of health and safety measures, considering guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other medical experts. Under this guidance, we've reimagined your cruise experience so we all can enjoy the magic responsibly."

Dr. Ben Carson blasts COVID vaccinations for children: 'This is really a giant experiment'



Dr. Ben Carson, former director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Children's Center, went on the offensive against giving COVID-19 vaccines to children.

Carson's remarks come as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced its approval for Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine for kids ages 5 to 11 years.

What are the details?

Carson, who served as Housing and Urban Development Secretary under former President Donald Trump, blasted the "giant experiment" of vaccinating children against COVID-19 during Sunday's broadcast of Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures."

When asked by host Maria Bartiromo whether he believes young children should receive the COVID-19 vaccine, Carson fired back, "Absolutely not."

"The fact of the matter is, the mortality rate for children from COVID-19 is 0.025, which is very similar to the rate for seasonal flu," he insisted. "And we haven't been for years and years going through all these things for seasonal flu."

He added that the long-term implications of the vaccines for children are currently unknown, which ought to send up red flags for parents.

"Plus, we don't know what the long-term impact of these vaccines is, so this is really sort of a giant experiment," Carson explained. "Do we want to put our children at risk, when we know that the risk of the disease to them is relatively small, but we don't know what the future risks are? Why would we do a thing like that? It makes no sense whatsoever."

Dr. Ben Carson on vaccinating children: "This is really a giant experiment. Do we want to put our children at risk… https://t.co/iwzUq3eDOF

— Scott Morefield (@SKMorefield) 1635720055.0

What else?

The FDA on Friday announced its emergency use authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech in children ages 5 to 11 years old and in a statement said, "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will meet next week to discuss further clinical recommendations,"

The panel is set to convene on Tuesday to discuss recommendations.

If and when the CDC gives the shot the green light, health care providers will be permitted to administer the vaccines.

Vaccination for children in the 5-11 age group will be similar to that of adults — two doses separated by three weeks — but at a lower, 10mcg dosage, compared to the 12-and-over dosage of 30mcg.

"The vaccine's safety was studied in approximately 3,100 children age 5 through 11 who received the vaccine and no serious side effects have been detected in the ongoing study," the FDA said in its findings. "The available safety data to support the EUA include more than 4,600 participants (3,100 vaccine, 1,538 placebo) ages 5 through 11 years enrolled in the ongoing study. In this trial, a total of 1,444 vaccine recipients were followed for safety for at least 2 months after the second dose."

Commonly reported side effects, according to the regulatory board, included sore arm, redness, swelling, fatigue, headache, muscle or joint paint, fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes, nausea, and decreased appetite.

"Side effects were generally mild to moderate in severity and occurred within two days after vaccination, and most went away within one to two days," the agency added.

Fauci: It's 'very important' to vaccinate your kids, and if you're vaccinated, you don't need a mask outside



Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said this week that it's "very important" for children to be vaccinated against COVID-19, but doesn't think parents should be required to have their children vaccinated before kids can go back to school. He also said vaccinated people do not need to wear masks outdoors.

"Whenever you're talking about requiring something, that's always a charged issue. So I'm not so sure we should be requiring children at all," the top White House health adviser said on "CBS This Morning" Thursday. "We should be encouraging them. But you got to be careful when you make a requirement of something, that usually gets you into a lot of pushback, understandable pushback."

The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week approved the use of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for adolescents ages 12 to 15. Beginning Thursday, anyone 12 and older is eligible to receive the vaccine.

CDC data demonstrates that children in grades K-12 are at low risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19. In-person learning at school has not been associated with a substantial increase in community transmission of the virus, but there is ongoing debate over whether kids should be vaccinated before schools open in the fall.

Some parents remain hesitant to vaccinate their children against COVID-19. According to the KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor, a research project that tracks public opinions on the vaccines, 23% of parents with children ages 12-15 say the definitely will not have their kids vaccinated, while 30% say they will get their kids vaccinated right away. Another 26% said they want to wait to see how the vaccine is working, and 18% said they will only have their kids vaccinated if their school requires it.

"You don't want to in any manner or form have the parents feel like they're doing something wrong by questioning," Fauci said. "It's a perfectly normal thing to be concerned about your children and to question. And that's the reason why you want to get them as much information as you possibly can."

"It is very important for children to get vaccinated," he continued, acknowledging that while children are at a low risk of serious infection from COVID-19, there are still some kids who become ill and are in "serious trouble."

There are documented cases of children who contract COVID-19 continuing to have symptoms lasting more than 120 days after getting sick, a phenomena becoming known as "long covid." At least five hospitals in the U.S. have opened "long-haul" pediatric clinics to care for children with lingering illness from the virus. While these cases happen at a "low rate," Fauci advised parents to take preventive precautions by getting their children vaccinated.

"The other aspect of it that they need to understand, is that when children get infected — even though they may not, in fact, get serious illness — they could inadvertently and innocently pass the infection on to someone else, perhaps another member of the family who is vulnerable and could get in trouble," Fauci added.

He reminded viewers that there are benefits to being vaccinated, according to CDC recommendations.

"If you were vaccinated, you don't have to wear a mask outside," Fauci said. "If you were going into a completely crowded situation where people are essentially falling all over each other, then you wear a mask. But any other time, if you're vaccinated and you're outside, put aside your mask. You don't have to wear it."

FDA set to authorize COVID-19 vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds as early as next week: Report



The FDA is reportedly poised to authorize Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for children and teenagers ages 12 to 15 years next week, CNN reported Monday.

What are the details?

The outlet, citing a "federal government official," reported that the FDA is set to authorize the biopharmaceutical company's vaccine for emergency use.

"The FDA is currently reviewing data submitted by Pfizer to support the extended use," CNN said. "Pfizer said at the end of March that a clinical trial involving 2,260 12-to-15-year-olds showed its efficacy is 100% and it is well tolerated. The vaccine is currently authorized in the US for emergency use in people 16 and older."

In a statement to CNN, a spokesperson for the FDA said, "While the FDA cannot predict how long its evaluation of the data and information will take, the agency will review the request as expeditiously as possible using its thorough and science-based approach."

"Based on an initial evaluation of the information submitted, at this time, the agency does not plan to hold a meeting of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) on this request to amend the [emergency use authorization] for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, which was discussed and recommended for authorization at a VRBPAC meeting in December 2002," the agency said. "As with all FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccines, we are committed to transparency with this EUA review process."

What else?

Pfizer and Moderna are testing their coronavirus vaccines in children as young as 6 months old.

The outlet's government source added, "In the older group of children there is nothing exceptional, if everything looks very similar to adults, the feeling is that it is not necessary to take this to an advisory committee meeting. For the younger children, we almost certainly will consider more strongly going to an advisory committee meeting."