Critics rip former Biden health adviser, MSNBC for peddling lie that unvaccinated kids are likely to get 'serious' COVID: 'Dangerous misinformation'



Critics are calling out a former COVID policy adviser to President Joe Biden after he recently claimed on national TV that children are "likely" to get a "serious" case of COVID-19 if they do not get vaccinated against the virus.

What did he say?

Dr. Zeke Emanuel, who formerly served in the Obama administration and as a member of Biden's coronavirus advisory board, made the fallacious claim during an interview with MSNBC reporter Kristen Welker on Wednesday.

The two were discussing vaccine efficacy in children amid the rise of the Omicron variant, when he said, "With the Omicron variant, kids are either going to get the vaccine or they're likely to get a serious condition of Omicron."

"I am confused about parents’ attitude. Five and above, seems like it's a no-brainer," he added. "Two to five, I understand some hesitancy. Two and under with the small dose, I think probably a very good idea."

"Parents have to be more willing" to get their children vaccinated, Emanuel argued.

MSNBC followed up the interview by promoting Emanuel's warning on Twitter, despite his claim being obviously dubious.

Numerous scientific studies since the start of the pandemic have shown that children are extremely unlikely to present even mild symptoms as a result of the virus, much less come down with a severe case of COVID-19.

Furthermore, Reuters reported last month that a recent study showed Omicron is even less dangerous for children than previous variants of the pathogen.

What was the reaction?

Critics were quick to call out Emanuel and MSNBC for peddling misinformation about the pandemic, many noting that they reported the post to Twitter for removal.

"Report this dangerous misinformation," columnist Phil Kerpen tweeted.

Report this dangerous misinformation.https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/1489400069203939335\u00a0\u2026
— Phil Kerpen (@Phil Kerpen) 1643937935

"This is a lie," Townhall senior editor Matt Vespa added.

This is a liehttps://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/1489400069203939335\u00a0\u2026
— Matt Vespa (@Matt Vespa) 1643942360

Reason editor at large Matt Welch added, "This statement is not remotely true."

This statement is not remotely true.https://twitter.com/msnbc/status/1489400069203939335\u00a0\u2026
— Matt Welch (@Matt Welch) 1643939630

Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) said, "This is garbage @MSNBC. Totally, 100%, indisputably untrue COVID misinformation."

This is garbage @MSNBC. Totally, 100%, indisputably untrue COVID misinformation.https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/1489400069203939335\u00a0\u2026
— Lee Zeldin (@Lee Zeldin) 1643944160

"There is zero evidence that unvaccinated kids as young as 5 are 'likely to get a serious condition of omicron.' Zero," The Hill columnist Joe Concha argued.

There is zero evidence that unvaccinated kids as young as 5 are \u201clikely to get a serious condition of omicron.\u201d Zero.https://twitter.com/msnbc/status/1489400069203939335\u00a0\u2026
— Joe Concha (@Joe Concha) 1643957299

New York Assemblyman Jarrett Gandolfo called Emanuel's claim "demonstrably false" and "straight up fearmongering."

This is demonstrably false. Straight up fearmongering.https://twitter.com/msnbc/status/1489400069203939335\u00a0\u2026
— Jarett Gandolfo (@Jarett Gandolfo) 1643940285

WEX magazine managing editor Jay Caruso noted the statement as an example of how "platforms are much more lenient with COVID/vaccine hysteria content than they are with COVID/vaccine skeptical content."

This is a good example of an issue @JonathanTurley raised several weeks ago. Platforms are much more lenient with COVID/vaccine hysteria content than they are with COVID/vaccine skeptical content.https://twitter.com/msnbc/status/1489400069203939335\u00a0\u2026
— Jay Caruso (@Jay Caruso) 1643974544

Others contrasted Big Tech's silence over Emanuel's and MSNBC's claims to the loud criticism being incessantly launched against Spotify podcaster Joe Rogan because of his opinions on COVID-19 treatments.

"This kind of stuff only proves the whole Spotify thing has nothing to do with misinformation and everything to do with power," Bridget Phetasy tweeted.

This kind of stuff only proves the whole Spotify thing has nothing to do with misinformation and everything to do with power.
— Bridget Phetasy (@Bridget Phetasy) 1643939939

Washington Examiner contributor Brad Polumbo remarked, "Lol but Joe Rogan spreads COVID 'misinformation.''"

Lol but Joe Rogan spreads COVID \u201cmisinformation\u201dhttps://twitter.com/msnbc/status/1489400069203939335\u00a0\u2026
— Brad Polumbo \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\u26bd\ufe0f \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@Brad Polumbo \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\u26bd\ufe0f \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08) 1643946434

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Joe Biden's COVID adviser wants to give other countries COVID vaccine before making it available to every American



Dr. Zeke Emanuel, whom former Vice President Joe Biden announced would be a member of his coronavirus advisory board, wants to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine worldwide before making it available to every single American.

Emanuel worked in the Obama administration and was a chief architect of the Affordable Care Act. He later advised the Trump administration on how to best change Obamacare to drive down health care costs.

What did Emanuel say?

Emanuel, a medical ethicist and oncologist, co-authored an article in September arguing that officials should follow the "Fair Priority Model" with vaccine distribution as opposed to "vaccine nationalism."

Dr. Zeke Emanuel. (Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

The model advocates that whichever country produces an effective vaccine — which appears will be the United States — they should retain only the amount of vaccine required for their population to achieve so-called "herd immunity." Then, before the vaccine has been made available to every citizen, the model says the vaccine should be released for international use, not hoarded.

The "Fair Priority Model" addresses what Emanuel and other scientists call "distributive justice."

The article explains that associative ties — defined as "common governmental, civic, and other institutions, and a sense of shared identity" — "only justify a government's giving some priority to its own citizens, not absolute priority."

In an interview with the Scientific American, Emmanuel explained:

We expect national partiality, and there's even some good moral reasons for some national partiality. But from an ethical standpoint, there's not a good reason for absolute partiality, where a country covers every one of its citizens before giving any vaccine internationally. There's a good ethical reason not to have absolute vaccine nationalism.

What about other plans?

The World Health Organization has proposed distributing the vaccine with respect to population proportion.

However, Emanuel said the plan is problematic because it does not address severity of need.

"The problem that is immediately obvious is that different areas of the world are suffering at different rates. Typically, when you're giving international assistance, you give it to the people who are suffering most," he told the Scientific American.

What is the Trump administration's plan?

Health Secretary Alex Azar said in August that any COVID-19 vaccine developed in the U.S. would be distributed internationally only after American needs are met, falling in line with President Donald Trump's "America First" commitment.

"Our first priority of course is to develop and produce enough quantity of safe and effective FDA-approved vaccines and therapeutics for use in the United States," he said, Reuters reported. "But we anticipate having capacity that, once those needs are satisfied, those products would be available in the world community according to fair and equitable distributions that we would consult in the international community on."

When is a vaccine coming?

Dr. Anthony Fauci said Tuesday that a vaccine may be made available to the most high-risk Americans as early as next month, with widespread distribution coming as early as next April.