Never mind facts, don't you care how I FEEL?
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teacher hates me, this I know, ‘cause Dr. Asham tells me so
New York City's new health commissioner sparked outrage after announcing that children aged five and under should wear face masks indefinitely, bucking the national trend of ditching masks and going in the face of vast evidence that kids are at little risk from Covid-19.
'I think it's indefinite at this point,' Dr. Ashwin Vasan said Friday during a COVID-19 briefing in Queens. 'People who have tried to predict what's going to happen in the future in this pandemic have repeatedly found egg on their face, as they say, and I'm not going to do that here today.'
The woke commissioner, who lives in Brooklyn with his partner and three children, including a four-year-old son, argued he wanted to mask children because under fives are not vaccinated.
'As a father of a two-and-a-half-year old-and two other older kids, I want to keep them as safe as possible. I would love nothing more than to send my son to daycare without a mask,' Vasan said, according to CBS New York.
'But as a scientist, and as a doctor, and an epidemiologist, I want to keep him safe because he's not eligible for a vaccine.'
Multiple studies have shown young children are not at serious risk from Covid-19.
Data from from American Academy of Pediatrics shows children accounted for about 19 percent of all COVID cases, but less than 0.26% of cases resulted in death.
A study from October found that around half of pediatric Covid cases are asymptomatic, and that was before the more mild Omicron variant became dominant in the U.S.
Hospitalizations of pediatric COVID patients are also rare.
A study in February, found the Pfizer vaccine was only 12% effective at preventing Omicron in five- to 11- year-olds.
The main argument in favor of vaccinating children is to prevent them from spreading the virus but researchers from University of Berlin found, on average, children release less Covid particles into the air. Experts believe people who release lower amounts of aerosol particles when speaking have smaller viral loads, which also means they do not spread the virus at the same level.
Masks harm children's developmental and social health and are relatively ineffective at preventing the spread of COVID-19, studies show
A January study showed masks make it 20% more difficult for children to recognize faces and, in turn, could affect their ability to socialize and make friends, a fear that is echoed by parents worldwide.
'[This] could impair children's ability to navigate through social interactions with their peers and teachers, and this could lead to issues forming important relationships,' said Dr. Erez Freud, who led the study. 'Given the importance of faces to social interactions, this is something we need to pay attention to.'
The team recruited 72 children aged six to 14, who were presented with images of faces with or without masks, both upright and inverted.
Results also showed that children process faces differently when looking at a masked, and unmasked face.
Usually, humans process faces as a whole, rather than by their individual features – known as holistic processing. However, the researchers found that when children looked at masked faces, they became more analytical, focusing on individual features.
'Not only do masks hinder the ability of children to recognize faces, but they also disrupt the typical, holistic way that faces are processed,' Freud said.
Other experts argued masking children is ineffective without medical grade masks.
Dr. Jennifer Knips, Internal Medicine Specialist and mother of four, echoed the assertion in a Time Magazine op-ed last month: 'More and more experts have concluded that the evidence for masks in schools doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Many students wear cloth masks that provide little to no protection.'
'There are several studies that show a minimal reduction in COVID-19 transmission with masks in schools, but the results were not statistically significant.'
Here’s the man whom New Yorkers have entrusted their lives to:
Climate change for mental health issues: The bizarre woke tweets of Dr Ashwin Vasan
Critical Race Theory
'First they came for Critical Race Theory, now they're coming for mental health and suicide prevention programs when we are literally in the midst of a national children's mental health emergency? Absurd doesn't begin to define this logic,' he tweeted in November 2021.
Addicts
He cautioned people against using the terms 'addict' alleging they are 'stigmatizing to the lived experience' of people facing those struggles.
In October 2021 he also called to stop jailing offenders with mental illnesses and suggested criminals get 'the resources they need to thrive in their communities.'
BLM
In May 2021, he posted: 'While some progress has been made in the last year, including the conviction of George Floyd's murderer, it’s not enough. We still have a long way to go to ensure that Black Lives Matter is not just a slogan, but a governing philosophy reinforced by substantive policy reforms at all levels of government.'
Later that year, he called out apparent 'racist attacks' that took place at Fountain House and Body in NYC.
'What was once a safe space for people living with mental illness has become dangerous because of the hate that resides in our city and in our nation. I’m tired…we’re tired, of this hate. But we’re not giving up the fight. Stand with us in solidarity and in the knowledge that #BlackLivesMatter.'
Defund the Police
Vasan advocated taking money from police departments in favor of 'community-based mental health interventions'.
In August 2021, he wrote in an op-ed that 1,500 mentally ill people shot and killed by police since 2015 'could have been prevented' if there had been funding for 'mobile crisis response at the federal and local levels'.
Vaccination
Vasan has advocated for vaccinating children as young as five against COVID.
'More good news for kids (and parents!): Pfizer is seeking authorization from the FDA for use in children 5-11,' he wrote. 'Will definitely be breathing easier once my kids are able to get vaccinated.'
Climate change
He also argued that climate change negatively impacts mental health, tweeting in November 2021: 'The mental health impacts of #climatechange cannot be understated.
'Constantly being on the precipice of disaster and irreversible changes to our planet lead to trauma, PTSD, depression, etc. and we are not equipped to handle it.'
Homelessness
Vasan claimed that the government, and not individuals were to blame for homelessness.
'Homelessness is not an individual failing,' he argued. 'It is a failure of our government's responsibility to ensure housing is a human right and to keep our most vulnerable safe.'
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