A healthcare worker puts a bandage on a child after vaccination. The novel federal policy to reduce the number of recommended childhood vaccinations from 17 to 11 comes at a time when states are already charting their own course on vaccination policy. (Photo by Scott Housley/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
The novel federal policy to reduce the number of recommended vaccinations for all children from 17 to 11 comes as states are already charting their own course on immunization policy.
The novel Federal guidelines Mention a Policy In December, President Donald Trump called for aligning the U.S. vaccination plan with “peer” countries, including Denmark, that recommend fewer vaccinations for children – even though those countries have more tough government-funded health systems.
At stake are requirements for public school attendance, where vaccination rates have been lower in most states since the pandemic, and insurance coverage that makes vaccines affordable. At least 17 states have announced they will ignore the novel federal guidelines.
Many have formed formal alliances to share health information. The Northeast Public Health Collaborative, comprised of Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York State, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and New York City, announced It will resume Monday following guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Children’s health and lives are literally at stake.
– Dr. Sean O’Leary, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases
“The science is clear. Vaccines remain the best protection to keep children and communities healthy,” the collaboration said in its announcement. “The vast majority of American adults and parents believe that routine childhood vaccinations are important for public health.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics held a news conference this month to denounce changing recommendations from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Children’s health and lives are literally at stake,” said Dr. Sean O’Leary, chair of the association’s Infectious Diseases Committee, at the Jan. 5 event. “There is no evidence that skipping or delaying certain vaccinations is beneficial for children in the U.S. What we do know is that children who miss recommended vaccinations are at risk for these diseases that we can prevent.”
And governors from 14 states have formed another alliance to share public health information, including on vaccines. The updated CDC guidance “creates confusion and creates unnecessary hurdles for families seeking to protect their children from serious illnesses,” the Governors Public Health Alliance said in its Jan. 6 statement Press release. The governors are all Democrats, although the group says it is nonpartisan.
New Jersey is moving
One of the states rejecting federal guidelines is New Jersey.
Jeffrey Brown, acting commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health, issued one Implementing regulationr decided in December to maintain older federal recommendations for a birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine, despite changes to federal guidelines by the Federal Advisory Council on Immunization Practices.
Brown also called on state lawmakers to pass a bill formally decoupling state recommendations from federal rules on Jan. 5, the same day the novel federal guidelines were released. The legislation would allow an independent approach to vaccines without such mandates and would also require insurers to cover the vaccines, Brown said.
The legislation “makes very clear that the Department of Health can rely on expert panels outside of ACIP to make vaccine recommendations that make sense for public health,” Brown said in his statement before the Assembly Health Committee.
Novneet Sahu, the state’s deputy health commissioner, also testified, saying the changes at the federal level reflect a threatening “assumption of conspiracies and assumptions” about vaccines.
“When federal policymakers fail and misinformation spreads, state policies and practices must enable New Jersey residents to receive accurate, evidence-based information about infectious disease prevention tools like vaccines,” Sahu testified.
The bill, which passed the state Senate in December, passed the committee in a 6-3 vote. The bill passed the state Assembly on Jan. 12 and now lands on Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy’s desk.
One of the “no” votes on the Health Committee was Republican Rep. Erik Peterson, who said at the hearing that he distrusted the state health department because of decisions about nursing homes during the pandemic.
“They have a lot of derogatory things to say about the federal government. But some of us don’t trust the health department here in the state of New Jersey,” Peterson said.
Changes elsewhere
Similar changes in vaccination policy are taking place this year in the 23 states and the District of Columbia, where vaccination recommendations for schools are tied to federal guidelines, said Andy Baker-White, senior director of state health policy at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. The club is Persecution the novel and proposed changes in 14 states and the District.
Many are setting up their own advisory committees or task forces to make vaccination recommendations. In many states, policies are tied to school immunization requirements, insurance coverage for immunizations, and rules allowing pharmacists to administer immunizations.
Brown, New Jersey’s acting health commissioner, said in his statement that insurance requirements were an significant part of the state’s bill and said it would “ensure that people can continue to receive reimbursement for vaccinations even under ACIP.” [the federal advisory committee] remove vaccinations from the schedule or change these recommendations.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in its announcement that this would be the case No changes to insurance coverage for any of the vaccines, even though some are no longer recommended for all children.
AHIP, a health insurance trade group, said there have been no changes to coverage and that all vaccinations recommended starting in September will be covered at least through the end of this year.
Florida held public hearings on Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ proposal to eliminate the requirement that children receive vaccinations against hepatitis B, varicella (chickenpox) and Haemophilus influenza B (Hib) in order to attend public school.
There was one in Louisiana unannounced policy change In 2024, health workers will be banned from conducting vaccination events or promoting vaccinations against COVID-19, flu or MPOX. That’s made it complex for mothers like Crystal Rommen, director of Louisiana Families for Vaccines, an advocacy group that advocates for timely vaccinations.
Rommen said she had to organize other mothers of teenage children this year to ensure they received a COVID-19 vaccine.
“We have these policies that cause even more hesitation or doubt among parents,” said Rommen, a social worker with a 10-year-old son and a 7-year-old daughter. “I gathered my mom’s friends and compiled a list of parents and children who wanted their child to receive the COVID vaccine before my pediatrician could justify ordering enough doses. I’m kind of a bulldog. I’m full of energy.”
The novel federal guidelines continue to suggest this 11 vaccinations for all childrenincluding measles, mumps and chickenpox. In announcing the guidelines, the CDC said the reduction in vaccinations was consistent with “international consensus” while “strengthening transparency and informed consent.”
But experts said Denmark was not the right model for American politics.
Denmark has fewer undetected cases of some diseases, partly due to better access to health care and testing, so vaccinating immense numbers of children does not always make sense, a Danish specialist told the journal Science an article from January 7th.
“The United States is not Denmark, and there is no reason to impose the Danish vaccination plan on American families,” said Dr. Andrew Racine, president of the AAP, said in a statement.
The novel guidelines have “more flexibility and choice” for six vaccines, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said, recommending them only for high-risk groups or for “shared clinical decision-making” and not for all children: rotavirus, COVID-19, influenza, hepatitis A and B, and meningococcal disease.
This term means doctors and parents should decide together, but it has historically led to confusion and reduced operate when applied to COVID-19 vaccines for all ages, according to a University of Pennsylvania survey.
“The expectation that parents participate in shared decision-making with health care providers about routine, thoroughly studied vaccinations for children suggests that the public health community has doubts about the safety and effectiveness of these vaccines when this is not the case,” Patrick E. Jamieson, director of the university’s Annenberg Health and Risk Communication Institute, said in a statement.
Christine Sexton of the Florida Phoenix contributed to this report. Stateline reporter Tim Henderson can be reached at thenderson@stateline.org.
This story was originally produced by State borderwhich is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network that includes West Virginia Watch, and is a 501c(3) public charity supported by grants and a coalition of donors.
