The Biden administration is pushing hard for children under age five to get vaccinated against COVID-19, but none of America’s peer countries in North America or Western Europe are joining them.
Only eight other countries are currently vaccinating toddlers against COVID-19: Cuba, China, Argentina, Bahrain, Venezuela, Colombia, Hong Kong and Chile. None of them are using mRNA vaccines, like the Pfizer and Moderna shots most frequently used in the United States.
Biden appeared at an event last month to mark the start of the vaccine rollout for kids under five, saying that politicians shouldn’t get in the way of lifesaving shots for kids and that parents should feel “relief” that they can now keep them safe. The administration has also been offering financial incentives to doctors for encouraging parents to get their kids the jab.
“We had been among the first on getting vaccines authorized for almost every age group,” Dr. Ashish Jha, Biden’s COVID-19 czar, said recently when asked by a reporter why the United States is so far ahead of other places like Western Europe and Israel on vaccinating toddlers. “I think it is a combination of really vigorous scientific work that’s been done by the companies, in close partnership with the FDA.”
None of the eight countries vaccinating toddlers are part of the First World. Five of the eight are under the control of socialist or communist regimes. Several are using Cuban- or Chinese-made vaccines, not non-mRNA options used in Europe or North America like Johnson & Johnson or AstraZeneca.
