Fifteen Democratic-controlled states announced Tuesday that they are suing the administration of the Republican president, challenging the reduction in the number of vaccines it recommends for children, a policy they called unscientific.
Minus seven vaccines
With this reform, which , a notorious vaccine challenger, seven previously recommended children in the US are no longer on the list, excluding only those children deemed to be in high-risk groups.
The new policy covers vaccines against influenza, hepatitis A and B, COVID-19, meningococcus (which causes meningitis); respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), as well as rotavirus, which causes gastroenteritis.
Another dozen or so vaccines, however, continue to be recommended for all children in the US.
California and Arizona v. Trump
The health secretary and the administration are “making a mockery of decades of scientific research, defying credible health experts and risking a severe test of state resources and making American children sick,” California state Attorney General Rob Bonda, who is leading the charge along with his Arizona counterpart, Chris Maze, said during a press conference.
USA like Denmark
When the reform was announced last month, the Trump administration justified it by arguing that it was in line with the vaccination policy of other states, pointing in particular to the example of Denmark.
Concern in the medical community
But the modification of the American schedule for childhood vaccinations is causing concern in much of the medical community, all the more so because Denmark is a small country, with a public, centralized health system that guarantees universal access to care and the spread of disease is prevented.
Conditions that have nothing to do with in the USA, where the health system, for the most part privatized, has performances far inferior to those of northern European countries.
Children unprotected against serious diseases
“Duplicating Denmark’s vaccination schedule without also duplicating Denmark’s health system doesn’t give families more options – it just leaves children unprotected against serious diseases,” Chris Maze hammered during the press conference.
Controversy over vaccines in the US has been heating up since Donald Trump returned to power early last year, raising growing concerns. Vaccination rates in the country are on the decline following the novel coronavirus pandemic, and many are alarmed at the risk of outbreaks of potentially deadly infectious diseases such as measles.
Appeal to Justice
The issue has become highly political, and California Governor Gavin Newsom released a statement supporting the lawsuit announced yesterday.
“The Trump administration’s attacks on science are irresponsible and dangerous,” said the 58-year-old Democrat, who is no secret that he has ambitions to be elected president. “Undermining confidence in vaccines leads to lower vaccination rates and more infectious diseases,” he added.
