PBS-39 TV from 6-7 p.m. today, April 30, will broadcast “A Community Conversation: Understanding Childhood Vaccine Changes," a live show that will explore childhood vaccines.
You can stream the show at PBS39, on the PBS39 YouTube channel and here at LehighValleyNews.com.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The U.S. Health and Human Services Department this year scaled back the list of recommended vaccines for children from 17 shots to 11.
The move has parents divided on how to proceed to keep their children safe from disease.
“It's so important to protect those that can't protect themselves."Jordan Friedman, South Whitehall
“It's so important to protect those that can't protect themselves,” Jordan Friedman, a South Whitehall Township mother, said.
“I mean, I got every shot in the book when I was pregnant with him.”
Friedman, her husband and their 3-year-old daughter welcomed a new family member just days after the change was announced.
"It was so nerve wracking," Friedman said. "Because we did everything with her [the 3-year-old], up to even extra vaccines.
“So with him, we were, like, OK, can we please make sure we get the Hep B and please make sure we stick to the old guidelines.”
The new childhood vaccination schedule released by Health and Human Services and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was blocked by a federal judge in March.
That ruling also halted the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a group that shapes U.S. vaccine policy, including recommendations that influence the childhood vaccine schedule.
The group was overhauled by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, as he installed new members who lean toward the anti-vaccination agenda.
'What are we doing?'
The Friedmans are patients at Children's Healthcare, a private pediatric office in Allentown.
“Initial thoughts were, 'What are we doing?'” said Brandi Burns, physician assistant at Children's Healthcare.
“The question is, are we following science, or are we following politics at this point? And so it was very shocking, because a lot of the things that we're eliminating are diseases that have been eradicated because of vaccines.”
“Patients are very frustrated, they're very upset, they're confused, and that's the biggest thing that we're finding, is that they're just unsure. Because we're here as pediatricians to guide them, and that's what we're doing, is we're trying to guide them in the best way, following science, not politics.”Brandi Burns, physician assistant at Children's Healthcare in Allentown
Burns said the sudden change in schedule has some parents confused.
“Patients are very frustrated, they're very upset, they're confused, and that's the biggest thing that we're finding, is that they're just unsure," she said.
"Because we're here as pediatricians to guide them, and that's what we're doing, is we're trying to guide them in the best way, following science, not politics.”
The CDC now recommends vaccinating against 11 diseases. It no longer broadly recommends protection against flu, rotavirus, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, some forms of meningitis or RSV.
Dr. Jeffrey Jahre, senior vice president for medical and academic affairs at St. Luke's University Health Network, said he encourages continued research and understanding in medicine.
"There is nothing wrong with a re-evaluation of vaccine protocols, which ones should be given and which ones shouldn't," Jahre said.
"We have been doing that ever since doing vaccinations, and that should continue, but there is a science, specific process for doing so, that needs to be followed.”
'Our population is very diverse'
Jahre has decades of experience in the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases.
"The way it should be done is that you need to ask a whole bunch of different stakeholders for their opinion."Dr. Jeffrey Jahre, Senior V.P. for Medical and Academic Affairs, St. Luke's University Health Network
"The way it should be done is that you need to ask a whole bunch of different stakeholders for their opinion," he said.
"And that includes many of the academic bodies that represent your broad swath of physicians, like the Academy of Pediatrics, the Academy of Family Practice, the Infectious Disease Society, the American Public Health Association, that was not done."
Jahre said protocols also are in place for decisions to go through the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, which he said did not happen before the new recommendations.
In determining the new schedule, HHS cited processes peer nations use when they approach vaccine recommendations.
"When you look at the United States, we have a population of somewhat greater than three 40 million people," Jahre said.
"Currently, Denmark has a population of 6 million. It's been described to be about the same as Wisconsin.
“Secondly, their population is much more homogeneous. Our population is very diverse. It's diverse in terms of income, it's diverse in terms of race, ethnicity. It is diverse in the way people get health care."
Protections against the diseases taken off the list now only are recommended for certain groups deemed high-risk, or if their doctors recommend them in what's called “shared decision-making.”
'Persnalize their health care'
“I feel like it's a good step towards body autonomy and letting people choose what is best for them,” Alexis Zuercher of Emmaus, a mother of four with a fifth on the way, said.
“Humans are different, and it's great to allow people to personalize their health care according to their body. “
Zuercher said she started out vaccinating her children, but stopped when her oldest started to regress in his development.
“We felt like we were kind of in the dark,” she said. “We wish there was something to question, and we didn't know there was something to question until something went wrong.”
Zuercher's son was diagnosed with autism and is non-verbal. She said she doesn’t think vaccines are solely to blame, but the diagnosis gave her reason to pause her children’s vaccination schedules.
“We found out through genetic testing that he is sensitive to heavy metals, breaking down heavy metals in his body and absorbing essential minerals," she said.
“It's a gene that I passed down to him, and I also passed down to my third born, not my second born, and we're waiting for our fourth born.
"So after that, we just totally stopped vaccinating our children and until we got a more deeper understanding of, like, how they might respond to the ingredients in the vaccines.”
'Do what is best for your child'
Extensive research shows no link between vaccinations and autism. Still, Zuercher said she wants more information when it comes to her children’s health.
“Any parent that wants to vaccinate their child I think they should,” she said. “Do what you feel is best for your child.
"But I feel like we definitely should have the choice of being like, ‘We're gonna delay that because I don't feel comfortable.’ I don't feel like I'm totally informed with everything yet.”
“We just want to make sure we do what's best for him. It's worked for her, and she's been phenomenal. So I want to make sure we do the same thing for him.”Jordan Friedman, a South Whitehall Township mother
Among those left on the recommended-for-everyone list are measles, whooping cough, polio, tetanus, chickenpox and HPV.
But the new guidance reduces the number of recommended HPV vaccine doses from two or three shots to one for most children, depending on age.
Insurance companies in Pennsylvania still are required to cover most of the vaccines, even those not recommended, through 2026.
“We still have the Pennsylvania guidelines, and that's what we're following, that's what the schools are following and so they have to get their mandated vaccines in order to go to school,” Burns said.
Friedman said, “We just want to make sure we do what's best for him. It's worked for her, and she's been phenomenal. So I want to make sure we do the same thing for him.”
The overall advice from the experts is for parents to talk to their primary care doctor about what is best for each families’ care plan.
For more information about the vaccine changes, you can stream PBS39's live "Community Conversation: Understanding Childhood Vaccine Changes" from 6-7 p.m. today, April 30.
