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Trumpās vaccine chief, Kirk Milhoan, chair of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, has denounced mandatory vaccines, including polio ā calls paralysis the price of āfreedom.ā
In a break from decades of medical science, the man now steering Americaās vaccine recommendations says polio, measles ā and maybe all vaccines ā should be optional, even if kids die.
In a recent podcast appearance, Milhoan declared that a personās ārightā to refuse vaccines outweighs concerns about illness, disability, or death from infectious disease.
Milhoan admitted heās āconcernedā some children might end up paralyzed or dead if vaccines become optional. But then he waved it off, comparing vaccine refusal to alcohol abuse, saying āFreedom of choice and bad health outcomes.ā
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We should have freedom of choice to drink as much as we like and drive on whichever side of the road we like.
Sure there will be a few fatalities but āFREEDOMā
If it were to happen that would be a rare example of the US moving to the position which applies in the UK. Vaccines arenāt mandatory here. In an extreme case I believe the authorities here can apply to a court to override a parentās wishes, but thatās not just true of vaccinations of course. Parentsā control of their children can be taken away for all sorts of reasons.
The situation with vaccines in the US is complex and has a long history. It seems that while federal institutions can advise on policy, what actually happens is determined at state level. Milhoan chairs the (federal) CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. You didnāt provide a source for your story. Hereās one (Reuters). It includes the following
U.S. schools require vaccination against certain illnesses, including polio and measles, based on state requirements. Most states have typically aligned those with the CDCās broad recommendations.
Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and co-director of the Texas Childrenās Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, said most medical experts now disregard the committeeās opinions.
āItās a discredited committee,ā he said.
So although this Trump appointee (via Health Secretary Kennedy) has made his views clear they may not make much difference in the real world.
Charlie Kirk made the same argument about gun control. I donāt think I need to hammer the point home.
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France is the same - no, vaccines arenāt mandatory, but kids that havenāt been vaccinated arenāt allowed into the public school system.
Iāve not thought about it in detail, so there may be aspects Iām missing, but this seems like a fairly wise balancing act. Nobody is forcing you (or your children) to get vaccinated, but if you donāt, youāre not allowed to expose the walking health hazard to certain situations. Obviously exemptions are allowed for those who are unable to be vaccinated due to particular auto-immune conditions etc, but there has to be a compelling medical reason, and being anti-vaxx or trying to claim a religious exception doesnāt count.
Iād also argue that being unvaccinated should bar you from any location where thereās a significant gathering of people. Sure youāre free to refuse to take a vaccine, but youāre not free to inflict the well documented consequences of refusing vaccines on the general population.
I guess thatās what it boils down to. As long as enough kids are vaccinated herd immunity will suppress disease. We donāt need absolutely every single child to be jabbed (or sugar-cubed, or whatever). The cranky and/or negligent parents who donāt vaccinate their kids are the same ones who struggle to get them to school anyway. So if we lock those two things together then we increase the risk to the child that they wonāt get schooled. Is that really what we want to do ? The kids will be infants so they canāt sort this out themselves. Yet we risk damaging/punishing them not their parents. Maybe itād be better to say āIf you donāt get your kids vaccinated then you canāt buy beer or have subscription TV or be allowed on TikTokā or some such (for the avoidance of doubt, that wasnāt a serious suggestion).
Thereās a tension for sure; I donāt know off the top of my head how France handles ensuring children who are home schooled actually get a proper eduction - I suspect they do a fair bit more than how the USA operates (homeschooling is huge among a lot of Evangelicals because they donāt want their kids taught stuff like evolution, or any kind of reproductive health, etc.)
Youāre correct, the kid is not responsible, and under most circumstances, Iād be very wary of any system that might unfairly punish the child for the misdeeds of the parents (although a staggering amount of that still goes on). In this case, itās got to be weighed against the safety of all the other pupils in the school, particularly if any are at an elevated risk.
Yeah. If without the exclusion rule it would be 3 out of 90 unvaccinated then maybe that doesnāt justify making it mandatory. If it would be 30 out of 90 then it does. (Just numbers plucked from the air.)
I thought Dodge City was a small settlement, it seems to have engulfed much of North America under Sheriff Trump.
Heās too short for a Tarantino movie.
Cosplay Nazi.
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One word too many there methinks.
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*nazi
fixed
I just find it funny that the sleeves are way down over his knuckles.
I mean, Iāve got short arms but he could lose about 6" off those fuckers.
I think heād much prefer it to be Schindlerās List.