Public comment to CDC ACIP meeting.
We need better vaccine promotion campaigns from our government.
My public comment starts at around 8 hours and 25 minutes into the public meeting, I was the first up on the public comments.
Here is my comment in written form:
Hi I’m Chloe Humbert. We need better vaccine promotion campaigns from our government.
The recommendation for a spring covid vaccine boost for seniors was NOT well promoted. Worse, the spring boost excluded 50 to 64 year olds with underlying conditions - people clearly at higher risk of hospitalization or death. At a previous CDC meeting in September 2023, it was mentioned twice that “THERE IS NO GROUP THAT HAS NO RISK OF SEVERE ILLNESS”. The exclusion of 50 to 64 year olds, or any adults, from twice a year OPTION is perplexing since there's NO evidence of risks that outweigh benefits, especially for people over 50, and there’s been evidence presented at previous meetings of profound waning.
Many patients at times fail to heed doctor’s advice, but it’s not a reason to stop encouraging patients to quit smoking, and it’s not a reason to stop promoting vaccination. There is certainly no good reason to restrict access to the next covid vaccine update. And to be clear, catering to private insurance company lobbyists is not a good reason. Of course the recommendation for a spring booster for seniors on Medicare, was not even properly promoted. Uptake for seniors is horribly low and it’s because there are people in their 80s who have not gotten the message, which was the responsibility of the CDC, this is what the public is paying this agency to do.
This lack of vaccination campaign is a persistent failure and the anti-vax has been coming from inside the house. The scandalous news about the anti-vax campaign perpetrated by a DOD contractor on behalf of the government is a grotesque pinnacle of our nation’s unacceptable public health failures. This disinformation campaign is reported to have undermined vaccination and also masking and testing. It’s reported that the military psyops campaign was forbidden by law from targeting Americans, but in our world wide web world in a global pandemic, the idea of undermining public health abroad without harming Americans is ridiculous on its face. And harming innocent civilians abroad during a global health crisis is not itself defensible. CDC officials may think this is not the fault or responsibility of the CDC, but that is false.
This is not “just some people online” and it’s not a game. Real people are counting on the CDC. Leadership cannot rest on laurels or point a finger elsewhere. Infectious disease doesn’t recognize geopolitical boundaries or federal agency silos. An amends is needed and the CDC should have a distinct and purposeful goal to actually promote public health and lead on vaccination promotion with an active campaign.
The good news is that there are updated vaccines which will be available soon.
But we need a proper vaccine campaign to actually get uptake. I have sent my public comment in letters to the White House and my representatives. I really hope others will join me in pressing for public health solutions.
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