Paediatric jabs in Japan: third time is a harm

Although I was seriously concerned in August when the government decided to strengthen its recommendation for the 5-11 Pfizer/BioNTech jab since over 75% of its inventory remained unused, my worst fears didn’t come true. Since then, the percentage of jabbed 5-11 year olds has barely risen despite the the best (or worst) efforts of TV and politicians at persuading parents to pump shots into their kids.

Parents seem to have been put off by the jabs’ obvious ineffectiveness, hideous side effects, and lack of necessity. Paradoxically, the social conformism of the Japanese may have meant that media reports about the low paediatric vax rate might have unintentionally helped to keep it low: many parents didn’t get their kids jabbed because other parents didn’t either.

But the excess stock of kiddy jabs has led to a problem, with 133 of kids in Tokyo and about 100 kids in Kagoshima being jabbed with doses that had passed their expiry dates. The government has moved swiftly and decisively to solve this issue. The solution? To extend the expiry dates from 12 to 18 months. This may not be safe, but at least it’s effective!

On the subject of safety, other mistakes have been made with vaccine administration, like giving kids larger doses meant for older age groups.

11-year old child mistakenly given 12+ dose. Reported to have had hallucinations.

Hallucinations!? If a manufactured substance makes you hallucinate, it isn’t a pharmaceutical; it’s a narcotic.

Another problem the government and media have faced is how to report post-vax deaths of children while still lying about vaccine safety.

The first one was an 11-year old girl with cerebral palsy who developed a racing heartbeat one day after her second Pfizer/BionNTech shot and died after she started having breathing difficulties the next day. But she had been receiving mechanical ventilation even before the jabs, so the government’s experts could point to her underlying condition as a possible cause of death.

11-yeal old girl dies after Covid vaccination. Causal relationship unclear. She had been hospitalised with cerebral palsy

The second one was an11-year old boy who developed a fever and convulsions a day after his Pfizer/BionNTech booster and was taken to hospital. He died from acute encephalopathy four days later. This time, the government’s experts pointed to the boy's history of convulsions to avoid blaming the jab.

11-year old boy dies after Covid vaccination. Causal relationship unclear. He had a history of convulsions.

The third death was an 11-year old boy found unconscious in the bath 4 hours after his Pfizer/BionNTech booster on 13th December. Since his only underlying condition was allergic rhinitis, the experts are clearly struggling to find another potential culprit to blame instead of the jab. This means this case has barely been reported. Whereas the previous two cases were given headline treatment, the only mention of the third case I can find in the national media is in the final paragraph of a Yomiuri Shimbun article about 19 reported adult deaths after the Omicron boosters.

Another reported death was of an 11-year old boy who received his third dose on the 13th and died that night. His is the third reported death after the 5-11 vaccine.

In case you were wondering about the 19 adults who died after their Omicron boosters, the “causal relationship can’t be determined”, which is fairly predictable at this point.

You may have noticed that the last two children to die after getting jabbed were both boosted. Only 6.6% (486,000) of 5-11 year old Japanese children have had three jabs, which suggests most parents who had their kids jabbed earlier this year thankfully haven’t brought their kids back for another shot. But it also suggests your child’s chances of losing at Russian Roulette depend on how many times you force them to play.

Needless to say, the same is true for adults too.

Birth & Death data for August: good news and bad news