The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee has voted unanimously in favor of adding the Covid vaccine to the schedule of recommended immunizations for children.
Infants who are older than six months should get a Covid vaccine, and any boosters that come on the market when they are eligible for it, said the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
The decision is controversial because many states automatically adopt CDC recommendations, which means that the CDC, though the states, will mandate these shots in order for children to attend school. The CDC has been trying to distance itself from responsibility by saying it is a state decision.
Over the summer, the panel recommended, and the CDC adopted the recommendation that people over the age of six should get Covid shots. Today’s decision recommends that the shots be added to the regularly scheduled list of vaccinations that children get. The final decision is up to CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky.
Shots that are now being given to children six months through five years are the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines. The CDC says all children, including children who have already had COVID-19, should get vaccinated.
On Fox News, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine professor Dr. Marty Makary warned that the move will further fuel vaccine hesitancy among parents and caregivers because there isn’t a lot of clinical data to support the benefit to children to getting the vaccine. Makary said that the CDC’s recommendations are highly influential on states as they decide which vaccines to require for school attendance.
The approved Covid vaccines are still considered “emergency authorization” products and manufacturers are shielded from all liability in case of injury.
“It has been almost two years since COVID-19 vaccines were first rolled out in the U.S., and nearly 630 million doses have since been administered nationwide, providing people with critical protection against severe COVID-19. ACIP’s recommendation to add COVID-19 vaccines to the routinely recommended vaccine schedule represents another step in the nation’s recovery,” the CDC said in a published statement after the vote.
Read the CDC’s complete statement on the advisory vote at this link.
