More Than 200 Medical and Health Professionals Co-sign Open Call for Normalcy for U.S. Children

Medical and health professionals around the country have added their voices to a call to restore normalcy for US children, following the release of a new advocacy toolkit, “Children, COVID and the Urgency of Normal,” intended to support a recalibration of pandemic restrictions on children.

This toolkit was authored by a group of scientists and pediatric, internal medicine, infectious disease, emergency, and ICU physicians. The authors introduced the resource in a virtual meeting on Monday evening.

Since that time, more than two hundred medical and health professionals, including more than 100 doctors, as well as nurses, psychologists, and public health professionals, have co-signed a statement calling for a return to normalcy for children, based on the key insights from the toolkit.

“Children — and their parents — have shouldered an outsize burden long enough. Restoring normal childhood is a moral imperative, based on the balance of today’s evidence,” reads the statement.

As of 4pm on January 27th, 228 medical professionals had co-signed the statement, with signatures being added by the hour.

Kwadwo Kyeremanteng, ICU physician and co-author of the Toolkit, encouraged adults to be courageous in these polarized times. “Someone has to speak up for the kids. There is no easy way around this except leading by example.”

“I’m heartened by the warm response to our Toolkit. Medical professionals have been expressing their concerns about the learning loss and social/emotional toll of the pandemic on kids in private for over a year, so I’m encouraged to see so many of my peers speaking up now,” said co-author Dr. Lucy McBride, internist and mental health advocate.

As additional signatures are added, the statement will be updated at www.urgencyofnormal.com/our-statement.

Media Contacts:

Karen Vaites: karenvaites@gmail.com

Natalya Murakhver: nmurakhver@gmail.com