ORLANDO, Fla. – Former U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Antonia Novello, who was appointed by George H.W. Bush, has a warning for parents today.
“The beauty that we enjoy today is because of the vaccines that were given to us in the past,” Novello said.
It comes as two common childhood vaccines are being examined by the CDC’s new Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices: The Hepatitis B shot and a combined MMRV shot. Any changes could alter insurance coverage and cast doubt on their safety and efficacy.
Dr. Novello says she has seen first-hand the benefits of childhood immunizations.
“I am a pediatrician. I’ve taken care of too many sick children to have some that come to me because, by no choice of their own, they got sick, but to get sick and die because somebody said that a vaccine has to be questioned when basically the first question they should be asking, ‘did you get vaccinations when you’re a child?’ And if you did not, then you’re a genius in medicine because otherwise nothing has touched you,” said Novello. “Don’t trust just one opinion, trust the opinions of people who have been in this for years.”
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Earlier this year, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. fired all the previous panel members on the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and hand picked their replacements – some who share his vaccine skepticism.
The latest proposal from the committee: Children under four should get one shot for measles, mumps and rubella and then a separate one for varicella, or chicken pox.
The panel is also debating changes to the Hepatitis B vaccine recommendation.
“Much of the data is considered pretty settled,” said Dr. Jodie Guest, Senior Vice Chair of the Department of Epidemiology at Emory University. “Those of us that follow these vaccines have been watching the safety data this entire time, and there’s not new evidence out there that we have been following that would show that you would want to change the guidance.”
In Fort Myers, Florida, first time father Brandon Gonsalves decided against vaccinating his newborn for Hepatitis B which the CDC crrently recommends be done at birth.
The family’s pediatrician, David Butler, worries some families are making vaccine decisions based on politics or online research.
“It’s difficult because me, myself, all of my colleagues, all we want to do is provide the best care we can for your child. They have their minds made up before they come in,” said Dr. Butler.
“Well, it seems to me that we need more information than more disinformation. As long as we take things just for what they say, we are as part of the problem as the solution,” said Dr. Novello.