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Comment by unityByFreedom | Hacker News Reader

Children have far more success fending off all variants of Covid. It really is more like a flu for them. Nonetheless, some are still worried about them since some vaccines do give children less risk than catching the virus itself.

If you read HN, then I assume you read the science, so there is no reason to peddle fear about kids and Covid.

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Children are also eligible for flu vaccines within their first year of life. A flu can be very dangerous for a young child.

This isn't peddling fear. Why have we normalized illnesses that we can otherwise prevent or avoid?

> Children younger than 6 months old have the highest risk for being hospitalized from flu compared to children of other ages but are too young to get a flu vaccine. Because flu vaccines are not approved for use in children younger than 6 months old, protecting them from flu is especially important. [1]

Parents of newborns must be vigilant, even against the flu. We cannot prevent Covid forever, just like we cannot erradicate the flu.

[1] https://www.cdc.gov/flu/highrisk/infantcare.htm#:~:text=Chil....

I'm aware, it's the 6mo-5year group that you're ignoring. They're eligible for the flu shot, but no such covid vaccine had been approved yet. So to say that anyone who wanted a vaccine has got one by now is simply not true.

I'm pretty convinced this is an unproductive conversation given that you state we cannot erradicate the flu when we absolutely could erradicate the flu just like covid. You don't seem to understand how selfish it is to care more about personal freedoms than the accompanying personal impact to the health of others, such as that of toddlers. It makes me sick.

Let's focus on first year of life. That's where greater risk for flu/covid exists. For younger than 6 months, nobody is doing research for that age range. For older than 6 months, research is ongoing.

> I'm pretty convinced this is an unproductive conversation given that you state we cannot erradicate the flu when we absolutely could erradicate the flu just like covid.

Okay. That's a pretty extreme view. I've never seen or heard anyone argue that. Viruses can be endemic. Like weather, they are out of our control. Humans can only manage so much. In some areas, nature exercises its power over us.

> You don't seem to understand how selfish it is to care more about personal freedoms than the accompanying personal impact to the health of others, such as that of toddlers. It makes me sick.

I have toddlers, and I do care about their personal health. I'm not about to advocate we all take the full lockdown being done in areas of China right now [1]. Fire is more likely to kill than covid when you lock people in their homes. And, I can't imagine not letting a toddler go outdoors for weeks on end. Domestic issues will flare up.

[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/ThatsInsane/comments/udtnvu/extreme...

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