An important part of pandemic reflection is being willing to go back to the decisions that were made and ask the hard questions. Were those decisions based on good science? Or were they made out of fear and misunderstanding?
Many people shy away from this conversation. It is uncomfortable to admit that mistakes might have been made, especially when they were made with good intentions. But if we do not confront this honestly, we risk making the same mistakes again when the next challenge comes.
Today, I want to focus on one of the most difficult topics of all. What happened with the vaccination of children during the pandemic?
Remembering the Context
When we look back to 2020, we need to remember who was truly at risk from COVID-19. It was older adults, particularly those with hypertension, diabetes, kidney disease, obesity, or interferon autoantibodies. Children were largely unaffected.
The original reason for locking down schools and restricting children was not because they were at risk themselves. It was to protect the older generations. Somehow, as time went on, that distinction was blurred.
When vaccines arrived, many governments moved quickly to include children in the vaccination campaigns. I remember asking at the time, why are we doing this? The data clearly showed that healthy children had an extremely low risk of severe disease.
We were using a brand new technology. The impact on transmission was already known to be limited. Even if the vaccine reduced infection rates slightly, that is not a justification for giving it to an entire low-risk population.
New Insights from Denmark
Recently, I revisited a Danish study that looked at adolescents aged 12 to 18. They compared vaccinated and unvaccinated groups over several months. What they found deserves careful thought.
Among vaccinated boys, there was a higher risk of throat and chest pain, fever, fatigue, and notably, enlarged lymph nodes. Some of this may be linked to myocarditis or pericarditis, conditions we now know were more common in young males after vaccination.
Among vaccinated girls, the standout issue was cognitive symptoms. They experienced difficulty concentrating, trouble finding words, mental fatigue, and episodes of dizziness. These symptoms were significant enough that they sought medical help, leading to formal diagnosis codes.
None of these young people were hospitalized for COVID. Not a single one. Whether vaccinated or unvaccinated, they remained largely unaffected by the virus itself.
This raises a difficult but necessary question. If the risk from COVID to these children was so low, and if the intervention carried its own risks, how did we justify it scientifically?
Berg, Selina Kikkenborg, et al. "Symptom-specific hospital contacts in 12–18-year-olds vaccinated against COVID-19: a Danish register-based cohort study." Vaccines 11.6 (2023): 1049.
We Must Reflect Honestly
At the time, fear was driving many decisions. But science must be able to look back with clear eyes. Just because there was fear does not mean we should continue to avoid the hard truths.
In medicine, even a small risk from an intervention must be weighed carefully when the benefit is minimal. Vaccinating healthy adolescents for a virus that posed them virtually no threat was always a questionable decision.
Now that data are beginning to emerge, we need to be willing to ask whether it was right.
Moving Forward
I am not here to blame individuals. I believe most people acted with good intentions, trying to protect society. But science is not about good intentions. It is about data, evidence, and constant reflection.
We must keep asking questions. We must look at the long-term impacts, not just the immediate outcomes. And above all, we must ensure that the voices raising concerns are not silenced. Especially when those concerns are rooted in solid science.
If we do not learn from this, we will repeat it.
For the sake of the next generation, we must be willing to face these uncomfortable truths head-on.
Please support my research efforts by subscribing to Vejon Health Substack. Your support allows me to continue bringing you my insights in a timely and effective way.
Share this post