The RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity today called on Governor McKee, RI Department of Health Interim Director Dr. Utpala Bandy, Speaker Shekarchi, Senate President Ruggerio, and all candidates for state office to categorically reject any notion that Rhode Island school should adopt the Covid-19 vaccine immunization recommendation, put forth by the CDC yesterday, as a condition for attending school.

At its Thursday meeting, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices unanimously approved the addition of COVID-19 vaccines to the routine immunization schedules for children, adolescents and adults..

“It all begins with Dr. Bandy and whether or not she will follow the actual science. Without her support, mandates will not be imposed in our state,” said the Center’s CEO Mike Stenhouse. “Her predecessors blindly followed previous CDC guidelines, many of which have now been proven to be scientifically unsupported, if not harmful. Moms and dads across our state are pleading with Dr. Bandy not to put their children under unnecessary physical risk and to respect their rights as parents to make those private medical decisions within their own families.”

Alarmed at the emerging data, multiple European countries have discontinued their recommendations for Covid shots for children, including England, Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark. The dubious CDC recommendation was made without putting forth any credible supporting data.

According to Dr. Andrew Bostom, a Brown University trained epidemiologist, medical data researcher, and Covid advisor to the Center, the near-zero risk of severe Covid illness among school-aged children in no way justifies the far-higher risk of a severe adverse event from the experimental vaccine. Many studies from across the globe have showed a median 0.0003% infection fatality rate for those under 19 years of age, while other credible studies have also illustrated that there is a documented, yet still small, risk of heart or immune system problems when children and young adults are vaccinated. 

Similarly in Rhode Island, according to Dr. Bostom, there have been ZERO (0) Covid-19 pediatric deaths over the 2.5 years of the pandemic. This reality should deter any parent from choosing to inject their child with either initial or boostered mRNA doses, but more importantly, this data clearly should obviate any notion that the government might consider imposing such an irresponsible mandate on young school children.

“There is no issue more important to parents right now and it should become a major campaign issue over the next few weeks. One mother told me, ‘It’s terrifying having children in school right now. It’s exhausting – the worry every day.’ Dr. Bandy and RIDOH must ensure parents that the government will not add to these highly-emotional concerns,” concluded Stenhouse.