A study of NHS data found that six of England’s healthy children succumbed to Covid within the first year after the pandemic.
Experts estimated that between March 2020-2021, 25 young people died due to the virus. However, the vast majority of them had other health issues that made them more vulnerable to the disease.
Of the six healthy children which died four were killed by the virus itself, while two succumbed to the Kawasaki-like disease called Paediatric Inflammatory Multisystem Syndrome Temporally (PIMS-TS).
The researchers estimate that healthy children have a 1 in 500 chance of contracting the virus, given the number 12 million children living in England.
They are roughly equal to their chances of getting admitted to intensive medical care if they get the virus.
Recent data discredits arguments for vaccinating children against the virus. The authors also caution that the risks of denying children education or social activities may be more dangerous than the actual virus.
The following chart displays the death toll of pandemic-related deaths in children between February 2020 and February 2021.
Twenty-five children died from various causes, including an underlying disease and six that were healthy.
Russell Viner (a University College London expert on child and adolescent healthcare), was the study author. He said that the results showed that Covid poses comparatively little risk to children.
According to him, there were only 25 deaths amongst this age-group of Covid residents in the past year, in comparison with more than 100,000 in adults.
‘Any death of a child is one too many — but we sadly must recognise there are over 3,000 deaths of children and young people in England in ordinary years.’
Professor Viner stated that the majority of children that died due to Covid were susceptible to the same diseases that are common throughout the year.
He stated that the majority of people who died were children. Young people we are familiar with are unfortunately at greater risk due to serious medical conditions.
‘I emphasise that this doesn’t mean children with allergies or asthma but those very small groups who were vulnerable to winter viruses in any previous year.’
The majority of the children who died (72%) were older than 10, 15 had a life-limiting condition, and 16 had two or more comorbidities.
In the initial analysis, 61 of the children were identified as having died from Covid. However, researchers discovered that the virus was responsible for only 25 deaths.
Data also showed that children of Asian and Black ancestry were more likely to die from Covid than other causes.
Children of Asian heritage accounted for 36% of all Covid deaths, and Black children accounted for 20%.
Covid, according to the study, contributed 0.8% to the total death rate of children during that time period.
This compares to 124 suicides and 268 trauma deaths.
However, the study has its limitations. The impact of the Delta variant, which was introduced in the UK in May, and the closing of schools in March were not included in the data.
But the authors, who published their findings in the journal Nature, say they expect their findings to still be relevant to the current pandemic situation.
This study supports the growing evidence that Covid is a very small danger to children compared with adults.
The latest Government data shows that 10-14 year-olds are responsible for most Covid cases in England with 751,159. Schools have virus-fighting programs that allow children to be tested frequently.
The JCVI vaccine advisory panel at No10 has stated that the chance of Covid death in a healthy baby is approximately one in two million.
It claimed earlier this year that immunizing 12-15-year olds with vaccines would not provide any’marginal benefit’ to their health. This was insufficient to recommend a massive rollout.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the largest proportion of Covid cases in the age group of 10-14 year-olds has been reported.
The JCVI stated in September that it couldn’t recommend Covid jabs to healthy 12- to 15-year olds, as the health benefits were only marginal. The JCVI also examined the possibility of myocarditis, a form of inflammation in the heart that can occur after receiving the Pfizer vaccine. Although the risks were still small and not as common after the second dose, it was slightly higher.
The experts suggested that ministers seek the counsel of Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer in devolved countries.
After weighing the benefits for children and claiming that school absences of hundreds of thousands could be avoided, they voted in favor of increasing the inoculation program.
There have also been concerns children are being put at risk of heart inflammation, also called myocarditis, a rare complication of the Pfizer Covid vaccine.
It is rare but it can happen in between 12 and 34 million people on the second jab. This was concerning because children are not likely to be vaccinated against Covid.
