No Vaccination, No Wish
Make a Wish foundation has no business to inject itself into an individual decision-making process and use its resource to reward or punish particular behavior
Richard Davis, CEO and president of Make a Wish (MaW) foundation, announced in a video message last Thursday that his organization would resume granting wishes on September 15, but only for those children and their families who are two weeks past complete COVID-19 vaccination. If you are not familiar with MaW, it’s an organization with a mission to make a wish come true for children with critical illnesses and who face imminent death. So, in other words, the organization dedicated to helping sick children basically declared that it wouldn’t make a wish come true for unvaccinated kids, no matter how sick they are.
Watching children suffering physical pain and their young lives cut short is one of the cruelest and heartbreaking facts of life. I used to donate to MaW because I believe its mission of bringing joy for those children who won't get to live a full life by making their dreams come true. Thus, I'm shocked and infuriated by MaW's latest "no vaccination, no wish" announcement. I'm not the only one. Just read some of the tweets here, here, and here.
Someone online also pointed out that Davis and his wife purchased a mansion worth $4.4 million in cash early last year. I do not hold any grudges against anyone who is independently wealthy. However, I decide not to donate to MaW anymore since it clearly doesn't need my contribution if it can afford to compensate its CEO so handsomely.
Davis claimed he based his decision on science after consulting with "experts" from the CDC and the American Pediatric Association. We've all heard similar talks before: believing in science, and if you raise any questions, you're anti-science. So let's list some scientific facts we know.
First, mountains of evidence collected over a year show that children and young people have meager infection rates of COVID-19. It is reported that out of more than 74 million children in the United States, there have been about 300 COVID-19 deaths and a few thousand serious illnesses. In contrast, the CDC registered 188 flu-related deaths in children during the 2019-2020 flu season.
Second, only last month, the Food and Drug Administration authorized the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 12-15 for emergency use because none of the vaccine manufacturers has completed sufficient trials on children in this age group yet. Since achild’s immune system is different than an adult’s, how a vaccine will work on a child must be studied separately. The insufficient trial data is why the FDA only approved the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use only for this age group. Therefore, not every 12-15 child will, nor should they rush to get the COVID-19 vaccine unless they have to.
Third, according to the CDC, there have been a higher-than-expected number of cases of heart inflammation in 16- to 24-year-olds after receiving their second dose of Pfizer or Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine. The CDC reported a total of 475 cases of myocarditis or pericarditis in people age 30 and younger. Although about 80 percent of those patients have been hospitalized, fortunately, all of them recovered. Even the CDC said that more investigations are needed to identify the root cause and ensure that the COVID-19 vaccine is truly safe for young people.
Fourth, no COVID-19 vaccine is approved for children under 12 as of now. Pfizer doesn't expect to deliver a COVID-19 vaccine for this age group until September this year at the earliest. Thus, no children younger than 12 will be vaccinated even if their parents want them to.
Fifth, the target audience of MaW is children with terminal illnesses. The COVID-19 vaccines are so new that there isn't sufficient time to study and evaluate how the vaccines will affect these children's health, given their pre-existing medical conditions. The risk is too high for these children to get the COVID-19 vaccine when there are so many unknowns.
Last but not least, it's ultimately the parents' responsibility to decide what's best for their children, including whether to get their children vaccinated or not. An outside organization like MaW has no business to inject itself into such an individual decision-making process and use its resource to reward or punish particular behavior.
I do not doubt that we will eventually either develop COVID-19 vaccines that are safe for children. But scientific development takes time, while time is a luxury that terminally ill children do not have, as death refuses to wait. Therefore, it is particularly gut-wrenching for an organization whose mission is to bring joy to critically ill kids to declare that the realization of these children's final wish is conditioned on their vaccination, all in the name of "science."
However, the MaW's decision isn't really about following the science. Instead, it is about adults' political posture at the expense of children's health and happiness. We have witnessed something similar in the school closure debate during the pandemic. Teachers' unions insisted on closing schools for the sake of the health and safety of both children and teachers. Now we learned that while kids have meager infection rates of COVID-19, the prolonged school closures and the isolations followed have resulted in a mental health crisis of American youth.
A pandemic is a clarifying event. First, it shows that while science is objective, not all scientists are. Like all mortals, some scientists can be easily influenced by fame, fortune, and political correctness. Remember that over 1,000 health professionals who called for moratoriums on large public gatherings also signed an open letter to support mass "Black Lives Matter" protests? Or how did one group of scientists shut down the lab leak theory of COVID-19 origin debate and condemn anyone else who raised questions as a conspiracy theorist? While we should trust science, we should always be aware of the fact that scientists are fallible.
Second, the pandemic exposed the hypocrisy of our elite class. From Nancy Pelosi's hair salon incident to California Governor Gavin Newson's costly dinner, our elite class has ordered us to abide by one set of rules during the pandemic. At the same time, they lived by a different set of rules. They have been so out of touch with ordinary Americans' lives that they have zero awareness of their rules' devastating impact on us. Instead, they enjoyed the power of dictating our lives during the pandemic so much that they are not willing to give that power up. They want to continue to dictate how we live, as evident by their unison push on COVID-19 vaccination.
Third, the pandemic revealed that the left has solid control of many civic institutions such as MaW. These institutions used to serve a "mediating" role between the state and individuals. But now, these institutions have become an extension of the state, and they have helped enforce the state-sanctioned orthodoxy. Therefore, each of us should reevaluate whether such institutions are still worthy of our support and their activities reflect their stated missions.
After online backlash, MaW reversed its decision, claiming it respects "everyone's freedom of choice. Make-a-Wish will continue to grant wishes for all eligible children. Make-a-Wish will not require anyone to get vaccinated to receive a wish." But it's not enough to win me back as a donor. I've decided that I will focus my support on local non-profit organizations that have done great work within our community from now on. The one exception I will make is responding to the call for help when a large-scale national or international disaster occurs.
I won't ask you to boycott MaW. As a free person, I trust that you are fully capable of deciding what's best for you and your family, including whether to get vaccinated and which organization to support. Don't let anyone take that freedom to choose from you. Wish you and your families a blessed July 4th! God bless America!
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