The recent vaccine policy changes that the U.S. government announced have astounded experts because the changes reduce recommended vaccines by one third and put the U.S. behinds its peer countries. This change shifts the U.S. from the position of leader on vaccination to a country that lags other developed nations on matters of disease prevention.
This policy change marks the latest escalation of the HHS secretary, John F. Kennedy Jr., who has for long been a skeptic of vaccines and is now in a position where he can make policy decisions that affect the entire country.
Daniel Jernigan, the National Center for Emerging Zoonotic Infectious Diseases’ former director, referred to the policy change as “astounding” since it was made without any public input or scientific evidence. He adds that the decision is going to worsen disease outbreaks and worsen access to needed vaccines.
Jernigan says officials prefer fewer vaccines and to this end, they buried the benefits of those vaccines while simultaneously inflating their risks. This, he says, sows confusion among vaccine providers and parents.
In a press statement, health officials claimed that the announced changes would bring the U.S. in line with what is happening in peer countries. However, a closer look at the vaccine policies of other countries like Germany, the UK, Australia, Canada and Japan shows that those countries are implementing policies similar to what the U.S. is now abandoning.
For example, universal recommendations exist in those countries requiring all children to be vaccinated against hepatitis B, rotavirus and influenza. Jake Scott, a Stanford University-based specialist focusing infectious diseases, says peer countries to the U.S. are inclined to offer additional vaccinations as a way to protect their populations, rather than scaling back their vaccination programs.
Ironically, many of those developed countries have looked up to the U.S. as a model they should emulate in terms of its vaccination program in recent years. It is therefore baffling that the U.S. is rolling back the successes that have for long made it a shining example of disease prevention.
Scott adds that the policy change in the U.S. wasn’t about making the country do as its peers are doing. Rather, there was a predetermined decision that had been made and officials looked for a way to justify that decision. To support this assertion, Scott points out that there are clear guidelines on how such policy decisions can be made. These include reviewing the existing evidence through the ACIP framework, debating the proposed changes in public by inviting public comment, voting on the changes, and other such procedures.
None of those steps was followed. Instead, a report written by two individuals was based upon to institute the changes. Jernigan refers to such a report as “an opinion piece,” which is unheard of as a basis for such a sweeping policy change.
Stakeholders like Astiva Health may now have limited options other than to adhere to the policy changes made and work with health care providers to recommend vaccines on a case-by-case basis as the new guidelines require.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Astiva Health are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/Astiva
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