On October 20, 2022, the CDC voted to add the COVID-19 vaccine to the childhood and adult immunization schedules. This vote will likely have extremely damaging repercussions across the nation, turning the public education system and pediatric healthcare system upside down.
According to the announcement, “CDC only makes recommendations for use of vaccines, while school-entry vaccination requirements are determined by state or local jurisdictions.”
Of course, at face value that statement from the CDC is absolutely correct. However, we all know what happens next. Many school systems across the country will adopt the CDC’s guidance at a state or local level, in some cases resulting in lawsuits between local and state boards of education, as local boards fight to block state mandated COVID vaccines.
The ultimate fallout from this however, will be more conservative parents pulling their children from public schools, as well as declining childhood vaccines. While I absolutely agree with declining the COVID vaccine, as I myself am still battling neurological symptoms a year after receiving the vaccine, it should ultimately be the parents’ choice and not mandated. This is no better than the decision I had to make between getting the vaccine, or losing my job as a Federal contractor. A child’s education should not be dependent upon requiring them to take a vaccine known to cause harm.
Make no mistake, this is going to severely damage decades of progress in childhood immunization. Some conservative parents are going to begin declining all childhood vaccines, out of fear that the doctors are going to “slip in” the COVID vaccine. For conservatives, a lot of trust in the government, school systems, the healthcare system, and even our neighbors, has been completely destroyed as a result of the pandemic and the vaccine. While I still believe in traditional vaccines, when people write to the Washington Post about wanting to secretly vaccinate their anti-vax friend’s baby, this makes me seriously question the direction our country is going.
The only silver lining in all of this, is that this decision by the CDC lines up perfectly with midterm elections, and will likely boost voter turnout across the country. Of course, the downside to this is that these won’t all be informed voters, but instead single-issue voters based solely upon politicians’ stand for or against the COVID vaccine.
I truly hoped that soon we would be able to put all this behind us. The CDC however, it seems wants this to be a lasting debate, dividing the country. Unfortunately, this is a decision that will likely cause issues for decades to come.
This is an opinion article by Ken Buckler, RFHC Managing Editor. All opinions are his own, and do not reflect those of Radio Free Hub City or its clients.