When a committee of the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and PreventionWhen the U. S. announced last month that COVID-19 vaccines would be added to the children’s vaccination program, many parents began preparing for the fight.
Although the council required young people to get the vaccine, they may have done so without issue. CDC advice carries the weight of a federal agency, and many state agencies use it to further policy.
In fact, CDC recommendations have become a convenient scapegoat for state and local leaders (who were reluctant to take on the duty of unpopular policies) in the COVID pandemic.
And the updated schedule gave states all the credibility to require the vaccine from students to attend public schools.
California did not hesitate. Washington, D. C. , didn’t even wait for the CDC’s recommendation. Long ago, it made the vaccine mandatory for public school children, with combined compliance.
Fortunately, Governor Greg Abbott didn’t take the bait. He announced Thursday that “Texas schools will not require students to get the COVID-19 vaccine for any reason. “
Its resolution is welcome, though not surprising; It reaffirms last year’s executive order related to state vaccine mandates more broadly.
But clarity is for parents who still feel insecure.
Abbott deserves praise for his decision, but he’s a conservative exception when it comes to this particular vaccine. Nearly two dozen states have done the same.
Even Illinois Gov. J. D. Pritzker, a Democrat, said after his re-election that lately his state has no plans to include the COVID vaccine on its mandatory student list.
And newly re-elected Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, also a Democrat, advised the same on his campaign.
This is at least partly because vaccination among young people has been slow.
Fitness officials tend to blame this on “vaccine hesitancy” or “misinformation” about the potential side effects of the COVID vaccine.
It is true that many of those who have won the blow themselves with enthusiasm have hesitated to do the same for their children.
However, their decisions are arbitrary.
There is little valuable knowledge, nothing about long-term effectiveness, to justify young people (especially the very young) getting vaccinated.
Data from other countries, such as Finland and Sweden, which do not offer COVID vaccines for children in cases of severe comorbidities, suggest that, in some cases, the risks might even outweigh the benefits.
For many parents, however, the challenge, even a matter of safety, is a matter of necessity.
We’ve known (but don’t recognize) for more than two years that COVID is a very mild illness in healthy children in a different way.
Many young people are asymptomatic; And many wouldn’t have known they had the disease if screening regimens had been less rigorous.
We know, above all, that vaccines do not save you from transmission. Just ask CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, who tested positive for COVID (twice!) Only one month after his retirement.
While the argument in favor of vaccines has been that they reduce the severity of the disease, this has not been a fear for the vast majority of children.
Right now, other respiratory illnesses, such as RSV, which have risen again this fall, are much scarier for most parents.
Despite complaints that many other people fall victim to misinformation about vaccines, parents know how to balance the dangers and benefits when it comes to their children.
They will be allowed to make those decisions on their own.
It’s great to be in a state where elected leaders think so too.
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