The decision undoes a highly effective 34-year prevention strategy that has nearly eliminated early childhood hepatitis B infections in the U.S.
- Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Colorado Anschutz
Most states require childhood vaccinations for measles, mumps, tetanus, rubella, chickenpox and whooping cough.
Before universal vaccination for hepatitis B began in 1991, 18,000 children contracted the virus by age 10 each year, and most of them developed chronic illness and liver damage. Vaccination reduced those infections by 95%.
Healthy children may now only receive a COVID-19 vaccine ‘off-label’ – but in many states, pharmacists and other non-physicians may not be able to administer them that way.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, evidence continues to support the COVID-19 vaccine’s use in young and higher-risk children and adolescents.
Abrupt policy changes and confusing public messaging have injected confusion in back-to-school vaccine protocols.
Being presented with facts doesn’t do much good if you don’t feel like your core values are respected. That’s especially true when it comes to health care decisions.
Even if you’re healthy and fit, you still need vaccines to protect yourself from severe disease.
Un pédiatre explique comment les vaccins contre la rougeole sont devenus les victimes de leur propre succès, et le risque que l’augmentation des épidémies représente pour tous et toutes.
A pediatrician and preventive medicine physician explains how measles vaccines became victims of their own success and the risk that rising outbreaks pose to everyone.
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