LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Is your child vaccinated yet against COVID-19? You had better hop to it – so says the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). At a Thursday meeting, they unanimously approved the addition of COVID-19 vaccines to the routine immunization schedules for children, adolescents and adults.

The panel’s decisions are almost always adopted by the CDC director and then given to doctors for advice on preventing disease. If adopted, the guidance for schools and physicians would go into effect in 2023.

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According to Just the News which broke the news early on, “more than half of the states refer to Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommendations in their immunization laws.” They go on to say that the “child and adolescent schedule recommends up to four doses of COVID-19 vaccines, including those still under emergency use authorization, starting at six months old. It includes a two- or three-dose primary series and a booster.”

Dr. Nirav Shah, committee member and director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, downplayed the change and its affects on schools by saying, “There are vaccines that are on the schedule right now that are not required for school attendance in many jurisdictions, such as seasonal influenza. Local control matters, and we honor that. The decision around school entrance for vaccines rests where it did before, which is with the state level, the county level and at the municipality level…”

However, Just the News points out, “Adding COVID-19 vaccines to the routine schedules will trigger laws in some states that require school districts to enforce the schedule on schoolchildren” because they reference ACIP (Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices) recommendations in their immunization rules and laws.

In Michigan, the immunization rules are referenced in Michigan administration code R.325.176. This is a rule that is in a document from the Department of Community Health (MDCH), Bureau of Epidemiology, on Communicable and Related Diseases. The MDCH is listed on the state’s website responsible for the development of state health policy and appears under the Michigan Dept. of Health and Human Services (MDHHS).

R.325.176 is titled “Immunizations required of children attending group programs or entering school” and outlines the definition of vaccines and other language as well as describing all of the vaccines that are required for a child to attend a school or those who are registered in a program of group residence, care or camping.

MDHHS materials confirm that all infants and children must follow state vaccine laws in order to attend childcare, preschool and school. They say, “These laws are the minimum standard for preventing disease outbreaks in group settings.” Those parents who choose to decline vaccines must obtain a certified waiver from a local health department which will be discussed later in this article.

A report from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows a variety of reasons that parents of children under five have not gotten COVID-19 vaccines for their kids yet including concerns about the newness of the vaccine and not enough testing or research (19%), and concerns over side effects (14%) and the overall safety of the vaccines (13%). 11% of the parents said they don’t think their child needs the vaccine or say they are not worried about COVID-19. In Michigan, only 31% of children ages five through 11 have received their first dose of the vaccine, showing that, so far, Michigan parents have little interest in doing so.

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The CDC, using Michigan’s administrative code for their report on state vaccinations, says that medical, religious and philosophical exemptions are accepted in Michigan and that the state allows students to be exempted from certain vaccination requirements with a waiver. Those seeking a non-medical exemption will need to speak to a health educator from their local health department about their concerns and questions prior to the non-medical waiver being signed.

For the CDC’s question of “Does the state (Michigan) disallow any exemptions in the event of an emergency, epidemic or outbreak” the answer line is left blank which means “no” or “not specified” in their laws or rules.

Robert Malone, a physician and biochemist whose early work focused on mRNA technology, which is used in both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, came out with a statement about the CDC’s vote where he said, “Important to recognize that this is a work-around because Congress is not funding more jabs into arms. If this product is put on the childhood schedule, Congress does not have a say in the funding.

Furthermore, if the EUA (Emergency Use Authorization) vanishes, then the liability of the companies would continue under the childhood schedule. This is corruption.” He continued to say, “I honestly didn’t think the ACIP would “go there.” For one, this is still an unlicensed product. I am still not sure a EUA vaccine product can be added to the schedule. I don’t believe it has ever been done before…I am shocked by the malfeasance. I have no trust left at all in our public health. It is broken.”

The European Parliament had a hearing earlier this month and Janine Small, president of Pfizer’s International Developed Markets, admitted that they did not know nor test to verify whether their COVID-19 vaccine prevented transmission before allowing the general public access to the vaccine.

 

 

However, the MDHHS continues to advertise that the vaccines DOES prevent transmission on its website in a document that says, “Having a COVID-19 vaccine available for children will help reduce the chance of outbreaks in schools, daycares, and camps and in turn, further protect our communities.”

Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis came out forcefully with his take on the situation when he said yesterday, “As long as I’m around and as long as I’m kicking and screaming, there will be no COVID shot mandates for your kids. That is your decision.”

Michigan Republican gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon has also responded to the CDC’s announcement by
saying, “Parents should be in charge of deciding if the COVID-19 vaccine is right for their child – not the CDC or Gretchen Whitmer’s bureaucrats. A Dixon administration would fight this government overreach and move to ban Michigan schools from adding COVID-19 vaccines to the required list. Liberal policy makers are pushing COVID-19 vaccines on our children and forcing parents out of the process, despite limited clinical evidence to support their claims. I stand with parents who are simply seeking the right to choose what works best for their child.”

Michigan News Source reached out to the governor’s office and the MDHHS for comment about this new
development with the CDC but they didn’t respond to our request for comment.

Governor Whitmer has made no public statement or tweet about the subject and neither has the MDHHS so it is unknown if the state will add the COVID-19 vaccine to their list of recommended or required vaccines.