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CDC vaccine officials resign while childhood vaccination rates decline • Washington State Standard
Dr. Rana Alissa hears it daily in the clinic.
“It’s better for my kid to get the virus than get the vaccine.”
“The more you [doctors] vaccinate, the more money you get.”
“I did not vaccinate any of my kids, and I’m not going to vaccinate this one. So, please, don’t waste your time.”
The Jacksonville, Florida, pediatrician said on average, she’d hear vaccine skepticism from a couple of parents a month, at most, before the COVID-19 pandemic. “Now, it’s every day,” said Alissa, who is also president of the Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Medical experts say hesitancy is likely to increase further as a result of misinformation pouring from the Trump administration — and turmoil at the federal agency largely responsible for setting vaccine policy.
On Thursday, three top officials were escorted out of the Atlanta headquarters of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
All three officials resigned to protest the effort by Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to dismiss CDC Director Susan Monarez for pushing back against Kennedy’s vaccine policies.
One of the officials, Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, posted on X that he’s resigning because “the intentional eroding of trust in low-risk vaccines” will cause the nation to suffer.
Earlier this week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration restricted access to updated COVID-19 shots. The new rules include limitations for young children that the American Academy of Pediatrics called “deeply troubling.” The FDA only approved COVID-19 vaccines for people who are 65 and older and those who are known to be at risk for a severe case. Consultation with a medical provider will be required before the shot is given to healthy children under 18, meaning parents can’t simply take their kids to a vaccination clinic or pharmacy.
In June, Kennedy ousted all 17 members of the vaccine advisory committee at the CDC, replacing them with some members who are vaccine skeptics. Many states use the committee’s recommendations to develop their vaccine requirements. And in May, Kennedy rescinded recommendations for kids to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
In his books, experts say, Kennedy appears to promote his own version of miasma theory, an obsolete belief dating back to ancient times that diseases are caused by vapors from rotting organic matter. Scientists have since proven that microbes, not bad air, cause infectious diseases.
Experts say Kennedy’s actions are likely to make vaccination rates worse, paving the way for more outbreaks.
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CDC vaccine officials resign while childhood vaccination rates decline • Washington State Standard