This article originally appeared onThe Defenderand was republished with permission.
As federal health agencies revisit childhood vaccine schedules and emphasize shared clinical decision-making, theAmerican Academy of Pediatrics(AAP) is encouraging hospitals to use pediatric admissions as a “unique opportunity” to vaccinate more children.
A series of AAP publications released in March and April promotes offering routine,catch-upand seasonalvaccinesduring children’s hospital stays and around surgeries and medical procedures.
But some physicians and vaccine safety advocates say the approach raises medical and ethical concerns, particularly for children already sick enough to require hospitalization.
A March 9 article inAAP Newsdescribed “perioperative or periprocedural vaccination” as “a novel way to vaccinate children who are in a hospital environment for other reasons.”
Another March report inHospital Pediatricsstated that “pediatric inpatient hospital admissions are opportunities for catch-up vaccination.”
The push comes as the AAP and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have diverged on somevaccine recommendations, creating what an AprilAAP Publicationsreport called “a more complex landscape for parental vaccine decision-making.”
Children’s Health Defense(CHD) Chief Scientific Officer Brian Hooker sharply criticized the AAP’s approach.
“The AAP’s callous and careless attitude regarding massive vaccination of anything that breathes at any time in infancy/childhood is dangerous,” Hooker said. “This is another instance where children come in for a procedure or hospitalization during, frankly, the worst time for an additional medical intervention, and the AAP wants them vaccinated.”
Hooker said he believes the policy “will lead to additional vaccine injuries and deaths.”
Source: The Vigilant Fox
