In the never-ending assault on children’s health, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. this week removed COVID-19 from the list of recommended childhood vaccinations. This decision, which relied on weak and misleading evidence, will not only discourage parents from giving their children this important immunization, it will make it nearly impossible in some cases. Some facts about children and COVID-19:
- From 2020 to 2022, COVID-19 was the 7th leading cause of death for 1-17 year olds in America, killing an estimated 1086 children.
- Even if children recover from a COVID-19 infection that caused mild or no symptoms, they are still at risk of long COVID, also called post-COVID condition or PCC. Currently, more than 1 million children in the U.S. have had long COVID with 80% experiencing activity limitations.
- Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in children (MIS-C), is a rare but serious condition that can affect children infected with COVID-19. A child with MIS-C may have severe inflammation in multiple parts of their body, including their heart, lungs, and brain. The only way to protect against MIS-C is to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
- COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective. The benefits for getting vaccinated far outweigh the risk of side effects.
Learn more about COVID and kids, as well as the weak and misleading evidence behind the Administration’s decree, in this analysis from First Focus on Children’s Senior Director of Health and Nutrition Policy Advocacy Maxwell R. Rowshandel.
In other news, the terrible horrible no good very bad budget bill moves to the Senate when Congress returns next week. Among the most egregious elements that advocates are urging lawmakers to correct are:
- Several provisions that would significantly alter Medicaid and CHIP, jeopardizing health care access for over 37 million children, including waiting periods, lock outs for parents who can’t keep up with premiums, and caps on annual and lifetime benefits. The package also would reduce the federal matching rate for adults in Medicaid expansion states to 80% if the state provides health care benefits to residents who are ineligible because of their immigration status — even if the states are using money from their own taxpayers.
- The bill’s threat to the food security of at least 4 million children living in households at risk of losing some or all of their food and nutrition benefits as a result of increased work requirements.
- The bill’s uneven Child Tax Credit, which increases the maximum refund from $2,000 to $2,500, but simultaneously prevents 20 million of the nation’s poorest kids from receiving the full credit — 2.5 million more kids than previously. It also disqualifies 4.5 million U.S. citizen babies and children because their parents don’t have a Social Security number.
- Inclusion of the Educational Choice for Children Act, which would create a federal private school voucher program. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, this provision could lead to a 120 percent match or more for upper-income families while decreasing funding in state and federal budgets. In addition to the lost capital gains revenue, the measure would spend $5 billion a year in taxpayer funds, totaling $20 billion over a four-year period.
- The claw back of up to $16 million in grants from the Inflation Reduction Act to reduce air pollution and monitor and improve indoor air quality in schools.
See our full analysis of the budget reconciliation package here.