Dr. Molly O鈥橲hea has noticed growing skepticism about at both of her Michigan pediatric offices and says this week’s unprecedented and confusing changes to federal vaccine guidance will only make things worse.
One of her offices is in a Democratic area, where more of the parents she sees are opting for alternative schedules that spread out . The other is in a Republican area, where some parents have their children altogether.
She and other doctors fear the new recommendations and the terminology around them will stoke vaccine hesitancy even more, pose challenges for pediatricians and parents that make it harder for kids to get shots, and ultimately lead to .
The biggest change was to stop blanket recommendations for protection against six diseases and recommend those vaccines only for at-risk children or through something called 鈥渟hared clinical decision-making鈥� with a health care provider.
The phrase, experts say, is confusing and dangerous: 鈥淚t sends a message to a parent that actually there鈥檚 only a rarefied group of people who really need the vaccine,鈥� O鈥橲hea said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 creating an environment that puts a sense of uncertainty about the value and necessity or importance of the vaccines in that category.鈥�
, who helped lead the anti-vaccine movement for years, said in announcing the changes that they better align the U.S. with peer nations 鈥渨hile strengthening transparency and informed consent.鈥�
But doctors say they are sowing doubt 鈥� the vaccines have been extensively studied and proven to be safe and effective at shielding kids from nasty diseases 鈥� at a time when childhood vaccination rates and are spreading.
On Friday, the American Academy of Pediatrics and more than 200 medical, public health and patient advocacy groups sent about the new childhood immunization schedule.
鈥淲e urge you to investigate why the schedule was changed, why credible scientific evidence was ignored, and why the committee charged with advising the HHS Secretary on immunizations did not discuss the schedule changes as a part of their public meeting process,” they wrote.
Many don’t know what 鈥檚hared decision-making’ means
O鈥橲hea said she and other pediatricians discuss vaccines with parents at every visit where they are given. But that鈥檚 not necessarily 鈥渟hared clinical decision-making,鈥� which has a particular definition.
On its website, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices says: 鈥淯nlike routine, catch-up, and risk-based recommendations, shared clinical decision-making vaccinations are not recommended for everyone in a particular age group or everyone in an identifiable risk group. Rather, shared clinical decision-making recommendations are individually based and informed by a decision process between the health care provider and the patient or parent/guardian.鈥�
In this context, health care providers include primary care physicians, specialists, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, registered nurses and pharmacists.
A pair of surveys conducted last year by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania suggested that many people don鈥檛 fully understand the concept, which when the federal government changed recommendations around COVID-19 vaccinations.
Only about 2 in 10 U.S. adults knew that one meaning behind shared decision-making is that 鈥渢aking the vaccine may not be a good idea for everyone but would benefit some.鈥� And only about one-third realized pharmacists count as health care providers to talk with during the process, even though they frequently administer vaccines.
As of this week, vaccines that protect against hepatitis A, hepatitis B, rotavirus, RSV, flu and meningococcal disease are no longer universally recommended for kids. RSV, hepatitis A, hepatitis B and meningococcal vaccines are recommended for certain high-risk populations; flu, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B and meningococcal vaccines are recommended through shared decision-making 鈥� as is the COVID-19 vaccine, although that change was made last year.
Shortly after the federal announcement Monday, Dr. Steven Abelowitz heard from half a dozen parents. 鈥淚t鈥檚 causing concern for us, but more importantly, concern for parents with kids, especially young kids, and confusion,鈥� said Abelowitz, founder of Ocean Pediatrics in Orange County, California.
Though federal recommendations are not mandates 鈥� states have the authority to require vaccinations for schoolchildren 鈥� they can affect how easy it is for kids to get shots if doctors choose to follow them.
Under the new guidelines, O’Shea said, parents seeking shots in the shared decision-making category might no longer bring their kids in for a quick, vaccine-only appointment with staff. They’d sit down with a health care provider and discuss the vaccine. And it could be tougher to have a flu clinic, where parents drive up and kids get shots without seeing a doctor.
Staying the course as challenges mount
Still, doctors say they won鈥檛 let the changes stop them from helping children get the vaccines they need. Leading medical groups are sticking with prior vaccine recommendations. Many parents are, too.
Megan Landry, whose 4-year-old son Zackary is one of O鈥橲hea鈥檚 patients, is among them.
鈥淚t鈥檚 my responsibility as a parent to protect my child鈥檚 health and well-being,鈥� she said. 鈥淰accines are a really effective and well-studied way to do that.鈥�
She plans to keep having the same conversations she鈥檚 always had with O鈥橲hea before getting vaccines for Zackary.
鈥淩elying on evidence and trusted medical guidance really helps me to make those decisions,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd for me, it鈥檚 not just a personal choice for my own son but a way to contribute to the health of everybody.鈥�
But for other families, confidence about vaccines is waning as trust in science erodes. O’Shea lamented that parents are getting the message that they can’t trust medical experts.
鈥淚f I take my car to the mechanic, I don鈥檛 go do my own research ahead of time,” she said. 鈥淚 go to a person I trust and I trust them to tell me what鈥檚 going on.鈥�
Abelowitz, the California doctor, likened the latest federal move to pouring gasoline on a fire of mistrust that was already burning.
鈥淲e鈥檙e worried the fire鈥檚 out of control,鈥� he said. 鈥淎lready we鈥檝e seen that with measles and pertussis, there are increased hospitalizations and even increasing deaths. So the way that I look at it 鈥� and my colleagues look at it 鈥� we鈥檙e basically regressing decades.鈥�
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