States Sue Trump Administration Over Rollback of Child Vaccine Recommendations
TL/DR –
More than a dozen US states, including California and Arizona, have sued the Trump administration over its rollback of children’s vaccine recommendations, terming it as a threat to public health. The lawsuit argues that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) endangered children’s lives by announcing it would no longer recommend all children be vaccinated against certain diseases, including the flu and hepatitis. The new recommendations, which are only advised for specific high-risk groups or upon a doctor’s advice, ignore established medical advice and will result in states spending more to guard against outbreaks, the states claimed.
States Sue Trump Administration Over Vaccine Recommendations Rollback
Over a dozen states, such as California, have taken legal action against the Trump administration for scaling back vaccine recommendations for children, labeling it an unlawful threat to public health. The states argue that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) disregarded children’s health when it ceased to advocate for universal immunization for diseases like flu, hepatitis, and meningitis.
The new guidelines, criticized by medical experts, only recommend protections against these diseases for high-risk groups or through shared decision-making with physicians. The states, which also include Arizona, claim that the CDC’s recommendations, which contradict established medical advice, will increase expenditure to prevent disease outbreaks.
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Arizona attorney general, Kris Mayes, a Democrat, stated during a Tuesday news conference that, “The health and safety of children across the country is not a political issue… It is not a culture war talking point.”
However, the Department of Health and Human Services’ press secretary, Emily G Hilliard, dismissed the lawsuit as a mere “publicity stunt”.
The legal action marks another chapter in the ongoing conflict between Democratic-led states and the Trump administration over changes to the federal government’s public health policy under health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, who has cut funding for scientific research, laid off federal public health workers, and altered government guidance on various topics.
The litigation surfaced months after the Democratic governors of California, Washington state, and Oregon initiated an alliance to establish their own vaccine recommendations, alleging that the Trump administration was putting public health at risk by politicizing the CDC.
Although CDC requirements typically influence state regulations, it is the states, not the federal government, that have the power to mandate schoolchildren vaccinations.
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