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President Trump is signing off on a decision from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) earlier this year to cut down on the number of required vaccinations for children. The President endorsed these adjusted immunization requirements in an Executive Order on May 29th. According to the President, “[We are] committed to ensuring that Americans are receiving the best scientifically-supported medical advice in the world. Additionally, my Administration is committed to protecting religious liberty and parental authority. Therefore, it is the policy of the United States that the core childhood vaccine schedule should be aligned with scientific evidence and best practices from peer, developed countries while preserving access to vaccines currently available to Americans and that the Federal Government will continue to protect religious freedom and enforce all legal protections for parents.” The CDC will no longer routinely recommend every child receive vaccines for rotavirus, influenza, meningococcal disease, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), hepatitis A and hepatitis B. The vaccines that will remain recommended include DTaP — diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (whooping cough) — Hib, pneumococcal conjugate, polio, measles, mumps and rubella, as well as chickenpox. The Agency will now recommend immunization for high-risk groups and populations only, or through consultation with a physician, “when it is not possible for public health authorities to clearly define who will benefit from an immunization.” The White House adopts the following requirements:- CDC and ACIP must review the HHS scientific assessment and the latest clinical data.
- CDC and ACIP must take legal steps to update the childhood and adolescent vaccine schedule. This includes looking at more flexibility in the timing and order of routine vaccines.
- Every federal department and agency must align its actions, regulations, funding and coverage with the vaccine schedule recommended by ACIP and adopted by the CDC.
- Federal agencies must respect legal protections related to parental authority, religious freedom, disability accommodations, and equal protection when dealing with child and adolescent vaccine policy.
- Vaccines that remain in any category of the CDC adopted schedule should still be covered without cost sharing by private insurance, Medicaid, CHIP and the Vaccines for Children Program.
- HHS must inform state governments and health officials about the policy and make the scientific assessment available so states can consider it when reviewing their own vaccine laws.
AHPA extends our gratitude to emerging colleague Mikhail Sirotinskii, guest author of this article.
Mikhail is an undergraduate student studying Political Science at Spokane Falls Community College.