Sesame Street's Elmo Gets COVID Shot in Misleading Effort to Promote Vaccines to Kids

The FDA recently authorized mRNA COVID vaccines for children aged 6 months to <5 years, becoming one of the only major countries in the world to recommend vaccines for those age groups.

Sweden, meanwhile, has paused the rollout of the Moderna vaccine for anyone under the age of 30.

In an effort to justify their decision, the CDC publicly released misleading information to their media partners that exaggerated the risks of COVID to children:

Beyond the outrageous misrepresentations designed to scare parents into getting their young children vaccinated, the FDA authorized the shots despite extremely low estimates of vaccine efficacy.

Even with remarkably small sample sizes, the estimate of vaccine efficacy, defined as the "first COVID-19 occurrence," was only 14% for the 6 months-23 months age cohort, and 32.6% for the 2-<5 year old age group.

The FDA initially set a target of 50% efficacy for the vaccine to receive emergency use authorization for adults, and yet for both age groups, the trials failed to reach even that arbitrary standard.

But of course, the FDA authorized it anyway.

Now Sesame Street has contributed to the latest effort to increase uptake and promote the vaccines for little children.

The Washington Post quoted the clip which, naturally, presents some purposeful inaccuracies:

“I had a lot of questions about Elmo getting the covid vaccine. Was it safe? Was it the right decision? I talked to our pediatrician so I could make the right choice,” Louie says to the camera in a clip shared online Tuesday. “I learned that Elmo getting vaccinated is the best way to keep himself, our friends, neighbors and everyone else healthy and enjoying the things they love,” he adds, before hugging Elmo.

It is conclusively proven, beyond a doubt, that the vaccines do not reduce transmission of the virus.

Just as one example, data from the Canadian province of Ontario delineating COVID cases by vaccination status shows rates are highest among those with a booster dose, and nearly identical for those fully vaccinated or not fully vaccinated.

Sesame Street trying to coerce behavior by saying that Elmo getting a shot would protect "friends, neighbors and everyone else" is disgraceful misinformation.

As vaccinations do not reduce transmission or the the chances of infection, it's also disingenuous to say that it keeps people "enjoying the things they love."

Politicians deciding to close businesses or stop the activities that people "love" has nothing to do with vaccination rates. While there's an argument to be made that higher vaccination rates could lead to lower hospitalization totals, it's telling that even in New York's first wave, pre-vaccination, former Governor Andrew Cuomo said that hospitals there were "never overwhelmed."

Senator Ted Cruz also noticed the clear lack of scientific evidence behind Sesame Street's advocacy:

It's ludicrous for Sesame Street to get involved in advocating COVID vaccines for children, especially when it's clear that the supposed benefits are near nonexistent.

There may be some benefits for young immunocompromised children, but to this point, the trials conducted have not actually demonstrated those results. Simply, this should exclusively be a personal decision made by parents after evaluating the risks and benefits for themselves.

It's likely that the actual motivations for this development come from political alignment with the public health bureaucrats desperate to get more children vaccinated.

There's simply no justifiable reason for an educational television show aimed at little kids to be involved this discussion at all. It's inexcusable and a direct attempt to interfere in a personal process.

Sesame Street and Elmo might be lighthearted entertainment, but their political advocacy could have serious consequences.