Who Gets the Shots
Dear Leading Ladies,
Does anyone else remember standing in line in elementary school in the ’50s to receive the first polio vaccine shot? Those were the ones developed by Jonas Salk before a liquid drop form came into use a few years later. My parents were particularly excited after having watched with fear as my brother was hospitalized with polio a decade earlier.
The results of this discovery? Polio was virtually eliminated from the United States by 1979 and from the Western Hemisphere by 1991.
Education Week: Children receiving polio vaccinations in the 1950s in school.
It’s hard to believe that the future of childhood vaccinations is in question now.
Is the end of immunizations truly a possibility?
How could it happen?
What would be the results?
While we knew we supported childhood vaccinations, we realized we didn’t really know how the law and government was involved. So, we took a long look and decided to share what we found.
It turns out that immunizations against diseases are not required by federal law. That is determined at the state and local levels. However, all 50 states have laws that do require them. So, how could Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as potential head of the Department of Health and Human Services, and Dr. Dave Weldon, at the helm of the CDC, use their power to change these state policies? How would that work? And what would be the consequences?
Were children and others to stop being immunized against polio, the disease could return and cause lifelong paralysis among many. There is no cure for polio, there are only preventive measures through vaccination. Paralysis, muscle weakness, and atrophy, as well as infection to the brain stem, and death, are very real risks to those who contract the disease. “The risk of lifelong paralysis is very serious,” according to the CDC. “Even children who seem to fully recover can later develop new muscle pain, weakness, or paralysis as adults. This can occur 15 to 40 years later. About 2 to 10 children out of 100 who have paralysis from polio die. This is because the virus affects the muscles that help them breathe.” The risk is greatest among unvaccinated children under 5. The spread of the infection to the community, with the threat of an epidemic, is very possible as well.
And what about the measles, mumps, rubella and varicella vaccine (MMRV*)? “Research shows that routine vaccinations for children born during 1994–2023 will have prevented about 508 million illnesses and 32 million hospitalizations and saved over 1.1 million lives,” according to the CDC. While most of our memories of these childhood diseases may be of mild annoyances and sick days home from school, the risks are high. As the Cleveland Clinic explains:
M – Measles: Measles causes fever, cough, a red rash and red eyes. It can lead to severe complications like pneumonia, seizures, and encephalitis, [which is] a serious brain infection.
M — Mumps: Mumps cause headache, muscle aches, fatigue and painful swelling in certain salivary glands. It can lead to deafness, encephalitis and other serious complications.
R — Rubella: Rubella causes fever, sore throat and a rash that typically starts on your face and spreads to the rest of your body. It can cause severe illnesses in newborns of people who had rubella while pregnant.
*Vaccination against Varicella (chicken pox) is often given with the MMR.
We’re probably preaching to the choir here about the importance of vaccinations, but we wanted to arm you with some facts and figures for conversations you may have during the coming months.
To make polio and other childhood vaccinations mandatory, states “establish vaccination requirements for school children,” according to the CDC. “These laws often apply not only to children attending public schools but also to those attending private schools and day care facilities. States may also require immunization of healthcare workers and of patients/residents of healthcare facilities.”
According to Jennifer Kates, a senior vice president at the nonprofit research group KFF (formerly the Kaiser Family Foundation), the CDC leadership will have a major influence over matters such as setting the nation's vaccine guidance as well as what data is collected and shared. “There's a lot of discretion that the new administration is going to have to decide what role it wants [the] CDC to play.” Although the states and local governments decide vaccination policies, they base their decisions on recommendations from the CDC.
In the November 14, 2024, NPR episode when Kates appeared, questions were raised about the accuracy of information that will be imparted to the public, as well as to state and local authorities, about vaccinations, and that pressure may be levied since about 70% of the CDC funds go to state and local groups. To cross CDC recommendations could have dire repercussions, it was suggested.
What will happen if the CDC suggests that states no longer require students to be vaccinated in order to enter school? Many – perhaps most – parents will still have their children vaccinated, especially those whose insurance covers the cost. But what if the VFC program (Vaccines for Children) that provides vaccines for families with limited means, is discontinued because the federal government no longer sees it as necessary? Children with limited means may go unvaccinated, making them and their communities vulnerable to measles, mumps, rubella, varicella and polio. Epidemics of illnesses that can have lifelong effects could run rampant through our poor, underserved communities. The prospect is horrifying and, yet, possible. If you hear echoes of the plagues visited on Native Americans centuries ago, you are not alone.
What can we do? Contact Governor Maura Healey here, State Rep. Jim Parisella (Jerald.Parisella@mahouse.gov), and Massachusetts Secretary of Health and Human Services Kate Walsh at (617) 573-1600 or write online here.
Say you are concerned about how Massachusetts is going to ensure the health of all Massachusetts children by requiring vaccinations even if the new leadership at CDC and HHS stop recommending them. If you live in another state, do the same with your governor, senators, US reps, state reps, and heads of health departments.
We need to spread truth and facts about the importance of vaccines, as well as how these decisions are made.
Our children and our neighbors’ children need our support.
Judy (she/her/hers)
Therese (she/her/hers)
Didi (she/her/hers)
Leading Ladies Executive Team