The medical neighborhood is waging a public relations struggle in opposition to Well being Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over COVID-19 vaccines as college students head again to highschool throughout the USA.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) on Wednesday issued extra expansive COVID suggestions for youngsters than the Division of Well being and Human Companies (HHS), underscoring the rising breakdown in cooperation between docs and federal well being authorities.
Dad and mom making an attempt to navigate these suggestions face an more and more sophisticated array of suggestions.
For youngsters 6 months to 11 years previous who should not immunocompromised, the CDC recommends shared decision-making with docs, successfully leaving it as much as dad and mom.
Nonetheless, the Meals and Drug Administration final month solely permitted the Moderna COVID-19 shot – the one one in the marketplace – for youths with an underlying situation, complicating entry for wholesome youngsters.
The AAP steerage, just like the CDC, advises shared decision-making for most youngsters, however recommends COVID-19 vaccines for extra at-risk teams, together with individuals who have by no means obtained a vaccine or who stay with others at excessive danger of extreme COVID.
The American Academy of Household Physicians maintains its personal immunization schedule, recommending a number of doses of the COVID-19 vaccine for all youngsters over six months previous.
Uli von Andrian, president of the American Affiliation of Immunologists, suggested that oldsters confused by the conflicting messaging seek the advice of with a trusted healthcare skilled on methods to navigate the steerage.
Kennedy fired a gap salvo within the struggle over COVID-19 suggestions earlier this 12 months, when the CDC introduced it might not advocate the COVID-19 shot for wholesome youngsters, citing a scarcity of scientific knowledge to justify annual immunizations.
Kennedy is a distinguished vaccine skeptic and petitioned the FDA in 2021 to revoke the emergency-use authorizations of the COVID-19 vaccines, as 1000’s had been dying of the virus.
Routine immunization for different respiratory viruses like annual influenza are nonetheless beneficial by CDC for youngsters, and RSV monoclonal antibodies are beneficial for infants aged between eight and 19 months.
Previous to Kennedy taking on HHS, organizations like AAP had been usually aligned with the federal authorities, collaborating in conferences discussing immunization suggestions. However when Kennedy gutted the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the AAP selected to not have interaction in what they referred to as an “illegitimate” assembly this summer time.
Different distinguished physicians’ teams welcomed AAP’s steerage.
Von Andrian mentioned the group “is very pleased to see trusted, independent organizations offering evidenced-based vaccine recommendations for patients and physicians to consider.”
“It is critical that the public and healthcare professionals have access to credible, trustworthy information about immunizations in order to make informed decisions about how to protect themselves and their loved ones,” added von Andrian.
In a gathering held this week by the Heart for Infectious Illness Analysis and Coverage’s (CIDRAP) Vaccine Integrity Challenge, knowledgeable members of the group mentioned what the present scientific literature supported in regard to COVID-19 vaccinations.
“[AAP’s] recommendations are consistent with our literature findings specifically for COVID, that children at highest risk for severe disease and COVID transmission receive the COVID vaccine,” CIDRAP Director Michael Osterholm mentioned in concluding the assembly.
“Other medical societies will be following them in the coming weeks. Americans will have evidence-based immunization recommendations from medical experts for the viruses responsible for tens of thousands of hospitalizations and deaths annually and they’ll come from clinicians who spend every day caring for these patient populations,” added Osterholm.
Supporters of Kennedy’s resolution, nonetheless, argue that not recommending COVID-19 vaccines for wholesome youngsters falls in step with the present proof and different steerage all over the world.
“Since 2022, the World Health Organization has taken the same position Secretary Kennedy took. The Canadian vaccination authority took the same position as Secretary Kennedy. The UK vaccination organizations took the same position as Secretary Kennedy,” famous Monique Yohanan, doctor and senior fellow on the conservative nonprofit Impartial Ladies.
The World Well being Group doesn’t advocate routine COVID-19 revaccination for wholesome youngsters and adolescents, recommending the shot for all immunocompromised people and kids and adolescents with not less than one comorbidity.
“We had been the one nation on the planet recommending this vaccine for wholesome children. So, from my
perspective, AAP proper now could be an outlier with reference to science,” Yohanan added.
Yonahan expressed concern that the discourse over COVID-19 vaccines would bleed into how dad and mom really feel about vaccinating in opposition to different diseases, which she believes are extra urgent points.
“I think it’s really important as we get to school season, for parents to revisit — we definitely don’t have enough kids who are vaccinated against the measles,” she mentioned. “We definitely need to focus on the vaccines that are important for community protection.”
Lately, the U.S. has fallen off the perfect 95 % vaccine protection price for defense in opposition to measles. The West Texas area the place the measles outbreak was solely just lately declared ended had practically half of all college students exempted from measles vaccinations.
