The reflections of Dr Lavigueur reflect the concerns of part of the population in connection with pediatric vaccination against COVID-19 and illustrate the social tensions that emerged during the pandemic. However, we deplore certain falsehoods and half-truths that it seems important to correct.
The Dr Lavigueur suggests that the vaccination of children against COVID-19 is currently underway in Quebec, which is not the case. He also mentions that the “World Health Organization does not recommend it”, which suggests that the WHO has spoken out against vaccination of children. This is not the case. WHO suggests giving priority to vaccination in all adults worldwide before vaccination of children in countries where adult vaccination has ended.
It is important to understand that the available data on childhood immunization is being analyzed by most regulatory bodies and expert committees around the world. The US Food and Drug Administration also ruled on the subject on October 26 and recommended its use in children from 5 to 11 years old.
The decision whether or not to vaccinate children must weigh the benefits and risks that this vaccination will entail. Since the risk of complications from COVID-19 infection is much lower for children than for adults, their personal benefit from vaccination will also be lower. It is therefore essential to ensure the safety of vaccines in this population. It is the role of expert committees to look into these questions, and they will do so with the same rigor as they have done for other populations.
The most disturbing elements of the letter of Dr Lavigueur concern the innuendoes which suggest that the vaccine “escapes all surveillance”, which is manifestly false.
Contrary to what is put forward, there are rigorous monitoring programs for side effects linked to vaccination in Quebec, Canada and around the world. The Dr Lavigueur claims that events following the COVID-19 vaccination in some of his patients, such as deaths and strokes, were caused by the vaccination. Without any vaccination, every day, Quebecers die suddenly or have strokes. In order to assess whether vaccines are the cause of a health problem, it is essential to compare its frequency among vaccinated people with that seen in unvaccinated people or with the expected frequency in an unvaccinated population.
Public confidence
Currently, the data with control groups are also clear that the vaccine does not cause, for example, stroke. However, studies comparing the incidence in the vaccinated and the unvaccinated have shown that the vaccines caused some important, but rare, health problems. Thus, AstraZeneca vaccine caused thrombosis with thrombocytopenia and mRNA vaccines caused myocarditis in some age groups. These problems were detected by surveillance programs and recommendations on vaccine use were subsequently adjusted.
The appearance of a health problem following vaccination is often an unfortunate coincidence in time and not proof that it was caused by the vaccine. The Dr Lavigueur seems to have forgotten this important concept.
He also failed to talk about the risks associated with COVID-19 itself (eg: thrombosis, myocarditis) which will be prevented by vaccination. This omission is serious and skews the view of the risk / benefit ratio of the vaccine. Vaccines sometimes cause serious side effects, but fortunately they are rare and the benefits of vaccination against COVID-19 outweigh those risks.
Public confidence in vaccines is strong, but it should not be taken for granted. This is why public health professionals have spent decades collecting and investigating all the unusual clinical manifestations associated with vaccination to maintain this confidence. This must be known and reaffirmed. In addition, while it is healthy to leave room for discussion and argumentation around vaccine programs, it is important that these discussions are based on facts consistent with science in order to avoid fueling existing disinformation. too present.
* Co-signatories: Jean Barbeau, microbiologist, responsible for infection prevention and control, faculty of dentistry, University of Montreal; Joseph Dahine, intensivist, CISSS de Laval; Yves Robert, medical consultant in infectious diseases, Direction de santé publique des Laurentides, founding member of the Quebec Immunization Committee; Amélie Boisclair, intensivist, Pierre-Le Gardeur hospital; Nathalie Grandvaux, host-virus interaction researcher at CRCHUM, co-director of the Quebec COVID-Pandemic network
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