The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) panel on vaccines—the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)—met September 18 in Atlanta, Georgia, and made it more difficult for individuals to get life-saving COVID-19 vaccines to prevent COVID. That was the intention of Robert Kennedy, Jr., the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, of which the CDC is a part.
On June 25, Kennedy fired all 17 members of the ACIP, the first time this has ever happened in history, and appointed more pliant members sharing his outlook. The ultimate plan before the meeting was to ram through the meeting a proposal to require those who want a COVID-19 vaccine to first get a prescription from a doctor, which is not now the policy in the United States, because such vaccines are made available to all who request a shot at a pharmacy, doctor’s office, or clinic. Since 20 to 30% of Americans don’t have access to primary care health providers who could write them a prescription, they would experience difficulty obtaining such a prescription were that required.
There was a heated fight at the meeting, and the compromise adopted is for vaccines to no longer be recommended, as they still should be. Instead, there is a process called “shared clinical decision-making,” and on the paper that accompanies the vaccine handed to those seeking a shot, describing the vaccine, there will also be inserted anti-vaxxer descriptions of why one should not take a vaccine.
