Public health officials are encouraging all American adults to receive COVID-19 booster shots due to the emergence of the omicron variant. Meanwhile, children are still receiving their first doses of the vaccine.
But online, some claim children face more risk from the vaccine than COVID-19 itself.
"HUGE: CDC and Big Pharma Data Confirm that More Children will Die from COVID Vaccine than from the COVID Virus," reads a Nov. 21 headline from the Gateway Pundit, a conservative website that has repeatedly shared misinformation about COVID-19.
The article accumulated more than 3,500 shares within two days. Similar claims have also been shared in standalone posts on Facebook.
As evidence for its claim, the Gateway Pundit cites an Oct. 31 Substack newsletter from Toby Rogers, who also writes for the anti-vaccine organization Children's Health Defense. The newsletter claims "the Biden administration plan would kill 5,248 children via Pfizer mRNA shots."
USA TODAY previously rated False a claim that children are 50 times more likely to die from the COVID-19 vaccine than the virus. This claim is similarly wrong.
Public health officials say the vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech is safe and effective at preventing COVID-19 in children ages 5-11. As other independent fact-checking organizations have reported, the benefits of the vaccine outweigh its known and potential risks.
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