The recent federal endorsement of COVID-19 vaccines for children won’t turn into school mandates overnight, but the routine decision has injected a fiery new debate into late-October campaigning.
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration and an assortment of others agree that a unanimous advisory panel recommendation to add COVID-19 shots to the 2023 immunization schedule won’t make the vaccine mandatory for children to attend school — unless a state decrees it so.
Republican candidates, especially those trailing in polls, are seizing on the vote as an issue of “medical freedom.” The uproar, more than anything else, raises questions about the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s aptitude for heading off political controversy 2½ years into the pandemic.
Republican contenders are tapping into angst among parents who think their healthy children don’t need the shots and that it is foolhardy to mandate a vaccine that doesn’t stop person-to-person transmission outright.
“Absolutely insane that the CDC is going to add the COVID vaccine to the childhood immunization schedule. This isn’t about ‘science’ or health,” tweeted Blake Masters, a Republican trying to oust Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly in Arizona. “I will always fight for freedom and to protect families and children.”
Don Bolduc, the Republican nominee for Senate in New Hampshire, warned voters that “medical freedom” is at stake on Election Day. That message could resonate in the libertarian-leaning state as he tries to catch Sen. Maggie Hassan, a Democrat who was once seen as vulnerable in the battle over the evenly divided Senate.
SEE ALSO: CDC recommends COVID-19 shots for kids and adults, sparking uproar over possible mandates
“Joe Biden, Maggie Hassan and liberals in Congress think that they have all the answers on everything under the sun, including the medical decisions made for our 2-year-olds. I believe that these are matters best left to parents and doctors. The left is right: Medical choice and freedom are on the ballot this November, and I am looking forward to that debate — especially right here in the ‘Live Free or Die’ state,” said Mr. Bolduc, who is down 5 to 7 percentage points against Ms. Hassan in closely watched polling averages.
Leora Levy, the Republican nominee for Senate in Connecticut, said she will “always stand with parents” and challenged Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal to declare whether he supports a school mandate.
The COVID-19 shots will be added to the routine immunization schedule in 2023 for Americans 6 months and older.
Its inclusion does not trigger mandates, but the vote from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices could provide cover for states that choose to require the shots for school attendance for the 2023-2024 academic year or beyond.
California and the District of Columbia have taken steps to require COVID-19 vaccination for school attendance, but the rules haven’t gone into effect.
“It’s important to note that there are no changes in COVID-19 vaccine policy, and today’s action simply helps streamline clinical guidance for healthcare providers by including all currently licensed, authorized and routinely recommended vaccines in one document,” the CDC said.
The ACIP decision is a part of the regular machinery of government, but it is the second time this year that a seemingly arcane CDC action has exploded upon impact with the political sphere.
Earlier this year, the CDC opted to lift Title 42 provisions that allowed the Biden administration to expel many migrants at the border because of the pandemic. Republicans complained that the administration sought billions of dollars to fight the coronavirus while loosening pandemic rules at the border, dooming a congressional deal on COVID-19 funding.
“The CDC announced the change in their view of the impact of COVID, and frankly, that’s all some of our members needed to decide, ‘Well, we’re not going to deal with the COVID issue on spending unless we have a chance to talk about the COVID issue at the border,’” Sen. Roy Blunt, Missouri Republican, told CNBC at the time. “This would suggest they’re politically tone-deaf to put that statement out at the same time we’re trying to increase by several billion dollars the COVID spending numbers.”
Mr. Biden’s declaration on “60 Minutes” that the pandemic phase is over hasn’t helped his cause in securing more money for the fight.
Public health experts said the ACIP decision made sense — COVID-19 isn’t going away and childhood vaccination is a routine part of American health — but the administration should have anticipated the hullabaloo before conservative media circles grabbed it.
“The CDC continues to be good on the science but inadequate in communicating to the public. The agency should have anticipated the backlash and confusion,” said Lawrence O. Gostin, a global health law professor at Georgetown University. “Parents are afraid of being forced to have their kids vaccinated. This is a very safe and effective vaccine for kids. But the public has not been educated about its benefits. CDC must do better on health communication.”
ACIP did the right thing by proceeding with its plan and ignoring outside noise and politics, said Arthur Caplan, director of the division of medical ethics at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine.
Still, he said, the CDC, state health officials and medical academies should have signaled in advance what the ACIP decision would mean and what it would not.
“They have to have a communication plan and outreach coordination plan when ACIP makes a decision like this one. They have to be ready to roll,” Mr. Caplan said. “They’re still organized in the pre-COVID, old-school world.”
Capitol Hill Republicans have said they will take a harder line on COVID-19 guidance and provisions if they win the majority in either chamber of Congress on Nov. 8.
Rep. Chris Smith, New Jersey Republican, asked the Biden administration to justify the ACIP recommendation with more clinical data because the recommendations could spur mandates down the road.
“Any CDC recommendation has powerful consequences and may indeed cause states to mandate child COVID shots as a prerequisite for attending school,” Mr. Smith said. “That would be outrageous.”
For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 resource page.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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