Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro Goes Rogue, Politicizes Childhood Vaccine Guidance

This is at odds with new guidance handed down last week by the CDC’s current Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). The committee voted to delay for children the administration of a vaccine for measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (chickenpox), which is known as the MMRV.  More to the point, under the new guidance, the MMRV will not be made available to children until they reach four years of age. No sooner. 

Before this, children as young as 12 months were approved for the vaccine. 

In making the announcement, Shapiro said, “While the federal government sows confusion, here in Pennsylvania, we are providing clear, evidence-based guidance to ensure Pennsylvanians and their doctors have trusted sources of information… Health care decisions should be up to you and your doctor — and my administration will continue to protect Pennsylvanians’ personal freedoms and parental rights.” 

On Monday of this week, the Pennsylvania Insurance Department confirmed that it will require insurers to follow the obsolete guidance. This means that COVID vaccine guidance will likely continue as it did under the Biden administration, and not in line with current U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines. The new FDA guidance limits approval of the jab to only people who are 65 years of age and older, or those with certain health conditions. 

Pennsylvania’s Department of Health issued its immunizations guidance in accordance with an expanded list of non-government health organizations that include the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), and American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). These organizations also helped push the Fauci shot during COVID. 

Not to be outdone, the Pennsylvania Board of Pharmacy took a vote to follow guidance from the same organizations. 

Earlier in September, Pennsylvania became part of a coalition of northeastern blue states to create a “regional public health collaborative,” which it says will share recommendations for vaccines, laboratory and data services, and other resources. 

The Northeast Public Health Collaborative says it exists as a response to what it calls “the politicization” of the CDC. Because the CDC, of course, was never political, especially during the COVID pandemic. 

In addition to Pennsylvania, the coalition’s member states are New Jersey, Delaware, New York, Maryland, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Funny story — every state in the coalition except Vermont has Democrat governors. But hey, it’s not political. 

By ignoring the federal government’s guidance, which seeks to gather and analyze more scientific data before subjecting young children to the risks of certain vaccines, Pennsylvania seems to think its science and data is better. Again, Pennsylvania’s previous policy was to simply follow recommendations from the CDC’s vaccine panel. 

Pro tip: If you want to detect which messages did well in political focus groups, all you need to do is some keyword searches of their propaganda materials. A quick review of Shapiro’s messaging indicates that his research told him that if you say your politically motivated dictates are “evidence-based,” the public will eat it up. 

The move leaves parents of young children in Pennsylvania as the last layer of protection between a vaccine-addicted set of state bureaucrats and their children. Do they follow the federal government’s guidance that’s designed to allow more time before subjecting young children to the risks of certain vaccines? Or do they follow the state’s out-of-date guidance that may subject young children to the risks of vaccines they may not need? 

Clearly, Shapiro’s move is a politically informed one designed to circumvent Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s actual attempts to put the childhood vaccine regimen under closer scientific scrutiny. 

Amidst all the talk of the need for evidence-based recommendations and the importance of “the science,” much of the messaging from these breakaway states on the issue of vaccines centers on the fact that the move is primarily in response to the political changes Kennedy is making in Washington. 

This year, he replaced all 17 members of the CDC’s immunization advisory panel. Certain new panel members have long raised alarms over vaccine safety and efficacy. They’ve challenged the “consensus” approach to scientific decision-making. Shapiro and the old guard clearly don’t like this. 

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The federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) commented to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star that Shapiro’s move to ignore CDC recommendations was in keeping with the "failed politics of the pandemic."

“The American people voted for transparency and accountability, and that’s exactly what Secretary Kennedy is delivering… For decades, CDC failed to level with the public. We are reforming broken institutions, restoring gold standard science as the foundation of public health, and empowering Americans with honest information and real choice. That is how we rebuild trust and Make America Healthy Again,” said Andrew Nixon, HHS’s communications director in a statement. 

He punctuated the statement by saying, “Democrat-run states that pushed unscientific school lockdowns, toddler mask mandates, and draconian vaccine passports during the COVID era completely eroded the American people’s trust in public health agencies… ACIP remains the scientific body guiding immunization recommendations in this country, and HHS will ensure policy is based on rigorous evidence and Gold Standard Science, not the failed politics of the pandemic.”