Vaccine Changes From Florida, RFK Jr., ‘Turn Clock Back’ (Exclusive)

Yesterday’s announcement that Florida is removing all vaccine mandates for school children was “shocking…and depressing,” says Dr. William Schaffner, professor of infectious disease and preventative medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

“I can predict with the surety that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, that diseases that we have eliminated will return and will affect children,” Schaffner tells PEOPLE.

The first, he says, will be measles, which is highly contagious — and which has already seen a resurgence in areas with low vaccination rates. Earlier this year, an outbreak in Texas killed two children and sickened more than 750 people.

In announcing the change in Florida yesterday, the state’s Surgeon General Dr, Joseph Ladapo compared vaccine mandates to “slavery” saying: “Who am I to tell you what your child should put in [their] body? I don’t have that right.”

But Schaffner points out that states already require parents to put kids in car seats and make sure they get an education. “We make certain things obligatory that go with parenthood because we know it’s the best for the children. Don’t tell me that this should be parental choice,” he says. “It is shameful for any part of our country to permit this to happen.”

Vaccine mandates in schools are particularly vital for immunocompromised children, who may not be able to get vaccinated themselves and who are more at risk for disease, he says: “The way we protect them is to have everyone else protected. We create a cocoon of protection around them.”

And, in the larger medical community, vaccine safety is not in question: “These vaccines has been assessed rigorously, by not only FDA and the CDC, but also by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians. And not just in the United States. Canada, the British, the French, the German, the Scandinavians, the Australians, the New Zealanders, the Brazilians, they all have expert advisory committees that review the safety and effectiveness of these vaccines. And they have all endorsed them.”

Policy changes related to vaccines are taking place on the federal level too, driven by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who has been an outspoken vaccine skeptic.

In June, RFK Jr. announced that the HHS was getting rid of all 17 members of the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, a panel of experts that has historically helped craft vaccine policy and recommendations across the country.

“Now, the reputation of that body is being seriously questioned,” says Schaffner. The majority of the new appointees “are well-recognized vaccine skeptics and you would even characterize some of them as being anti-vaccine.”

And last month, the Food and Administration, an HHS department under the leadership of RFK Jr., imposed new restrictions on who is eligible to receive the new round of COVID vaccines, saying the shot should be limited to those 65 and over or people with other health issues. Previously the vaccine was available to anyone six months and older.

“There’s great deal of turmoil and uncertainty in the USA vaccine space. Unprecedented,” Schaffner says. “My colleagues are across the country in infectious diseases and public health, we’re all absolutely bamboozled and disheartened. Vaccines are thought to be one of the great public health advances, along with pure water, over the last century.”

Schaffner says much remains up in the air until the ACIP meets again on September 18 and 19, but “the prospect that that body will continue to provide reliable recommendations going forward is very much in question,” he says. “My crystal ball, and that’s all it is, is I suspect that they will endorse the targeted approach of the Food and Drug Administration.”

In light of the uncertainty, Schaffner says some states and organizations are joining forces to offer clear vaccine guidance, like the newly formed West Coast Health Alliance.

In the meantime, he advises people to discuss with their doctors how best to approach the coming flu and COVID season. Someone who is under 65 with no other health issues should be able to get the COVID shot “off label” from their physician— “that’s legal,” he says — but it’s not clear whether insurance companies, would pay for it: “The insurance industry has remained remarkably silent on this so far,” he says.

And even though RFK Jr. announced in May that the Centers for Disease Control would no longer recommend COVID shots for pregnant women, the CDC still lists them as a high-risk group, so they should still be eligible to receive the shot (and insurance should pay for it). Parents, however, should talk to their pediatrician about options, especially for infants, who have had “rates of hospitalization that were comparable to the rates of older people,” he says.

Pharmacy chains like CVS and Walgreens may end up requiring documentation before giving a COVID shot “simply because they’re fearful of violating some stricture currently from the FDA,” he says. “I have already heard diverse reports of individual pharmacy practices not wishing to give the vaccine, asking for a doctor’s prescription or other sort of documentation, or some places not giving the vaccine to anyone. This is a transitional time; it will take time for things to settle down.”

Some pharmacies may still have a supply of the previous COVID formula, which has fewer dosing restrictions, but Shaffner says it’s best to get the newest version of the vaccine— and ideally wait until a little later in the season: “Protection wanes over time and your aim is to remain protected throughout the winter into at least March. Getting vaccinated too early defeats the purpose.”

The flu shot, meanwhile, is not targeted for changes for now: everyone aged six months or older should get vaccinated in the upcoming weeks or months. “In its first meeting, this newly constituted ACIP actually voted to endorse the standing recommendations [for the flu vaccine] for everyone aged six months and older,” he says. “So far so good when it comes to flu vaccine.”

There’s no question that public trust in institutions is in jeopardy, Schaffner says, “and I am concerned that the confusion will diminish further confidence in public health and will result in reduced vaccines.” It’s imperative, he says, that medical professionals “just try to answer every question from every patient in as calm, reasonable a way as possible and try to explain why it is that we still have confidence in vaccines.”