The CDC quietly removed more than 71,000 deaths linked to COVID-19 this week, including nearly a quarter of total deaths it had listed in those under 18 years old.
“Data on deaths were adjusted after resolving a coding logic error. This resulted in decreased death counts across all demographic categories,” the CDC said.
Mainstream outlets and COVID-19 vaccine advocates had cited the data to claim that Omicron is particularly dangerous for children, further justifying that young kids be vaccinated against COVID-19. In November 2021, CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky referred to the flawed figures in calling for regulatory approval to vaccinate children as young as five.
I have deleted the following tweets after the CDC changed its numbers on deaths from Covid, including pediatric deaths, in order to stop the spread of any inaccurate information. I am following up with the CDC about this change and what it means for their data tracking. pic.twitter.com/MlmIvxkXc3
— Melody Schreiber (@m_scribe) March 17, 2022
Journalist Melody Schreiber, who authored an article for The Guardian last week on pediatric COVID-19 deaths during the Omicron surge, deleted her Twitter posts about it on Thursday (March 17) after the CDC figures were changed.