States Reiterate Opposition To Childhood COVID-19 Vax Mandate, Regardless Of CDC Vote

As the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) meets for the second day, the group plans to vote on whether or not to officially recommend the addition of the COVID-19 vaccine to the childhood annual vaccine schedule. There is some confusion as to whether a unanimous vote yesterday on the subject took place, or whether that vote was regarding a slightly different topic.

Regardless, it is important to remember that this vote is in no way legislative, and states retain the power to dictate childhood vaccine requirements. Officially, the CDC has no enforcing power over childhood vaccine requirements, but their official recommendation certainly carries significant weight. We saw it most during COVID when the CDC’s policy recommendations, while in no way locally legislative or enforceable, were generally accepted without second thought by state officials who DID have the power to enforce them. So while the CDC wasn’t the one officially making the rules, they still kind of were, because their recommendation was as good as law.

Preemptive to a vote by the ACIP, several states have announced or reiterated measures to protect their state from forcing healthy children to take a largely untested vaccine they likely don’t even need for a disease which poses almost no risk to them. Predictably, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis made an announcement on the subject, assuring his constituents that he still would not be mandating the COVID-19 vaccine for children, regardless of what the CDC officially recommends.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds reminded her constituents that she already signed legislation “banning COVID-19 vaccination requirements at schools, daycares,” and assured them that she would continue to fight “reckless federal overreach.”

Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano put out a statement promising the public that “when I’m Governor, PA will NOT mandate the COVID vaccine-no matter what the CDC says.”

It’s the states who really make these rules. That’s why local elections are so essential. While national elections get all the big press, local elections are arguably more important and will have a greater direct impact on your life. Vote for governors, state representatives, and sheriffs who share your values and will protect your rights, especially from federal authoritarianism. Call your governors to tell them how you feel about things like unnecessarily mandating COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children.