PUBLIC HEALTHAs Tensions Over RFK Jr.’s Vaccine Policy Mount, States Act to Secure Access to Vaccines
In an effort to secure the health of their citizens, several states have acted quickly to preserve vaccine access through legislation, bills, executive orders, and regional collaborations that can issue independent recommendations and expand pharmacy-based administration of vaccines regardless of federal guidance. The action reflects a loss of confidence in the CDC and its vaccination committee which HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has stacked with vaccine skeptics.
Recent federal changes to vaccine policy under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have prompted a strong state-level reaction.
Pandora Reportwrites:
Blue and swing states including Colorado, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and others are moving to preserve vaccine access through legislation, bills, executive orders, and regional collaborations that can issue independent recommendations and expand pharmacy-based administration of vaccines regardless of federal guidance. State lawmakers and medical experts warn, however, that these piecemeal measures may not fully mitigate the harm of an expected federal rollback of vaccine access across different age groups, leaving tens of millions – including Medicare enrollees, military members and veterans, and people on employer plans – exposed to higher out-of-pocket costs and potential loss of coverage.
Conversely, some red states, like Florida, are taking a more restrictive approach to vaccines. Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo has called for mRNA COVID-19 vaccines to be “not available to anyone,” clarifying that other vaccines would remain accessible to Floridians but singling out mRNA shots as unsafe in his view. This news comes amid waning public confidence in federal vaccine policy: a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found that only one in four Americans believe recent vaccine policy changes are grounded in scientific evidence, with the majority expressing skepticism and concerns about the politicization of public health decisions. “Infectious diseases do not respect political boundaries,” said Pennsylvania Democratic state Rep. Arvind Venkat. “We’re talking about contagious illnesses. What you do affects me and what I do affects you.”
On Wednesday, former CDC Director Susan Monarez testified before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions that she was fired for resisting Secretary Kennedy’s demands to pre-approve vaccine recommendations for the public and fire career scientists. “Even under pressure, I could not replace evidence with ideology,” says Monarez. Just days before a high-stakes meeting this week, HHS and CDC announced five new members to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), with votes expected on recommendations for vaccines for COVID-19, hepatitis B, measles, mumps, rubella and varicella (MMRV), and respiratory syncytial virus.
In a perplexing conclusion to the otherwise tense meeting on Thursday, the panel seemed to contradict itself when voting on the MMRV recommendation: the members voted 8 to 3, with one abstention, in favor of recommending that children under 4 receive MMR and varicella vaccines separately rather than the combined MMRV shot. However, on a follow-up vote regarding whether this decision should apply to coverage under the nation’s Vaccines for Children (VFC) program, the panel backpedaled, issuing eight no votes, one yes vote, and three abstentions, citing confusion over how to reconcile coverage with the updated recommendations. Analysts at Citi noted that while the decision may impact parental choice and Merck’s vaccine specifically, overall vaccination rates for the four diseases “are likely to remain stable.”
These deliberations occur against a broader backdrop of declining childhood vaccination rates across the U.S. A six-month NBC News investigation, in collaboration with Stanford University, found that since 2019, 77% of counties and jurisdictions in the U.S. have reported notable declines in core childhood vaccines–including MMR, polio, whooping cough and diphtheria shots–with some countries seeing drops of more than 40 percentage points. Rising exemption rates for school children further exacerbate the problem: among states tracking MMR vaccine data, 67% of counties now fall below the 95% herd immunity threshold needed to protect outbreaks. “As childhood vaccination rates fall, we’ll see more diseases like measles,” Dr. Sean O’Leary of the American Academy of Pediatrics said.
Further Reading
“Kennedy’s vaccine committee plans to vote on COVID-19, hepatitis B and chickenpox shots,”Mike Stobbe, AP News
“Why 1 in 6 U.S. parents are rejecting vaccine recommendations,” Lauren Weber, Scott Clement, Emily Guskin, and Lena H. Sun, The Washington Post
“Ousted CDC director expected to push back against RFK Jr.’s version of her firing,” Sophie Gardner, Politico
This article is published courtesy of the Pandora Report.
