(C) Florida Phoenix This story was originally published by Florida Phoenix and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Federal health panel adds COVID vaccines in child immunization schedule; FL officials push back [1] ['Issac Morgan', 'Michael Moline', 'More From Author', '- October'] Date: 2022-10-20 Federal health officials voted Thursday to include COVID-19 vaccines in its 2023 childhood immunization schedule, raising concerns from Florida officials and others about whether kids could be required to get the shots to enter public schools. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not force vaccine mandates for schoolchildren, and its advisory panel made clear that it was simply updating the usual immunization schedule to include COVID vaccines. There are myriad vaccines for kids, such as measles, mumps, Hepatitis A, diphtheria, tetanus and others. But the COVID vaccine had become a controversial issue during the pandemic, in Florida and elsewhere in the country. A spokesperson from the federal agency told the Florida Phoenix on Thursday that any vaccine requirement for schoolchildren can only be established by the state. And in Florida, a November 2021 law already prohibits COVID vaccine mandates for students. The law states that “an educational institution or elected or appointed local official may not impose a COVID-19 vaccination mandate for any student.” However, that section of the law expires June 1, 2023. Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday brought the issue up during a press conference in Fort Myers Beach, saying he will ensure the prohibition of vaccine mandates for kids if he continues to serve as governor. “The fear is that schools could potentially mandate your child to get a COVID shot, even if that’s not something that you want to do,” he said. “So, I just want everyone to be clear: As long as I’m around, as long as I’m kicking and screaming, there will be no COVID shot mandates for your kids. That is your decision to make as a parent.” DeSantis continued: “These are new shots. I get a kick out of it when people try to compare it to MMR and stuff, things that have been around for decades and decades. So, parents by and large, most parents in Florida, have opted against doing these booster shots, particularly for the young kids. The surgeon general of Florida does not recommend this for young kids, for kids under 18.” Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo said this week in a Twitter post, that “regardless of what @CDCgov votes. … on whether COVID-19 vax are added to routine child immunizations – nothing changes in FL.” “Thanks to @GovRonDeSantis, COVID mandates are NOT allowed in FL, NOT pushed into schools, & I continue to recommend against them for healthy kids,” Ladapo said. Kate Grusich, CDC spokeswoman, told the Florida Phoenix on Thursday: “It’s important to note that there are no changes in COVID-19 vaccine policy, and this action would simply help streamline clinical guidance for healthcare providers by including all currently licensed, authorized and routinely recommended vaccines in one document. CDC only makes recommendations for use of vaccines, while school-entry vaccination requirements are determined by state or local jurisdictions.” In fact, the CDC states on its website that “state laws establish vaccination requirements for schoolchildren” and also determine “mechanisms for enforcement of school vaccination requirements and exemptions.” On Thursday, members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) approved the changes to recommend the shots for children ages 18 and under. The committee on Wednesday also approved the addition of COVID-19 shots for kids to the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program, a federal program that offers vaccines to children for free due to parents or guardians’ inability to afford them. This week, it appears some misinformation may have been spreading about potential vaccine requirements for kids to attend school. For example, FOX News host Tucker Carlson said in a tweet Tuesday that “the CDC is about to add the COVID vaccine to the childhood immunization schedule, which would make vax mandatory for kids to attend school.” The CDC refuted that claim the next day via Twitter, saying that only states can establish “vaccine requirements for schoolchildren.” Weesam Khoury, deputy chief of staff for the Florida Department of Health, said in an email to the Phoenix on Wednesday: “Whatever is decided, Florida will not mandate the COVID-19 vaccine and the (Florida) Surgeon General does not recommend it for healthy children.” [END] --- [1] Url: https://floridaphoenix.com/2022/10/20/federal-health-panel-adds-covid-vaccines-in-child-immunization-schedule-fl-officials-push-back/ Published and (C) by Florida Phoenix Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/floridaphoenix/