Tucker Carlson slams CDC director for downplaying risk of vaccines on young people as he points out agency's own website says 1 in 4 kids in the 12 to 17 age group will likely experience side effects

 Tucker Carlson said the CDC director is downplaying the risks of COVID vaccines in the 12-to-17 age bracket, which have been most susceptible to cases of heart inflammation in reaction to the shot. 

During Wednesday night's show, the host of the Fox News primetime show Tucker Carlson Tonight played a clip of CDC Director Rochelle Walensky talking about the risk-reward analysis for getting adolescents vaccinated. 

Walensky said if one million children in the 12-to-17-year-old age group were vaccinated over the next four months, the CDC estimates that there could be 30 to 40 'mild, self-limited cases' of myocarditis, which is inflammation of the heart muscle.  

The benefits, Walensky said, would be 8,000 COVID-19 cases averted, 200 hospitalizations and 50 ICU stays avoided, and one life saved. 

Immediately after Walensky's clip, Carlson said, 'That's simply not true.'

He cited CDC's data of vaccinations in the same age group saying out of 100,000 vaccinated adolescents, 25,000 could expect to experience general side effects, 700 could need medical care and 200 could be hospitalized. 

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Tucker Carlson 

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CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said of one million vaccinated kids between the ages of 12 to 17, 30 to 40 might get a heart inflammation 

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CDC data on risk-reward analysis for getting 12-to-17-year-olds vaccinated 

The numbers Carlson provided don't specifically include data about heart inflammation, but a CDC advisory group said there is a 'likely link' between cases of heart inflammation in adolescents and young adults, and the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines.

 

In a presentation released Wednesday, the COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Technical (VaST) Work Group discussed nearly 500 reports of the heart inflammation, known as myocarditis, in vaccinated adults under age 30.

The group of doctors said the risk of myocarditis or pericarditis following vaccination with the mRNA-based shots in adolescents and young adults is notably higher after the second dose and in males. 

Carlson has been questioning why young adults and adolescents need to be vaccinated ever since schools began publicly mandating vaccines before returning to the classroom. 

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The CDC's COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Technical Work Group said Wednesday that there is a 'likely link' between rare heart inflammation and vaccines, especially after the second dose in adults under age 30

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Young males were up to seven times more likely to report heart inflammation, known as myocarditis, than young women