On Monday, Oct. 6, the Centers for Disease Control signed off a new set of guidelines for the COVID-19, measles, mumps, rubella and varicella (smallpox) (MMRV) vaccines.
The COVID-19 vaccine is a therapy meant to enhance an individual’s resistance to COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2, which propogated the pandemic in the year 2020.
The MMRV vaccine is used to build a child’s immunity to measles, mumps, rubella and varicella.
During and since the pandemic, the COVID-19 vaccine was distributed to the public as an over-the-counter drug without any kind of requirement besides insurance approval. Some of the types of COVID-19 vaccine required annual boosters to maintain vaccine efficacy.
Different types of the COVID-19 vaccine have been developed, including Messenger RNA (mRNA), vector and protein subunit.
Messenger RNA vaccines use RNA made from the virus that the individual makes protein out of. Vector vaccines take a part of the COVID-19 virus and put it into a less dangerous virus so it will not be as severe to the individual taking the vaccine. Protein subunit vaccines consist of a pure protein produced by COVID-19 that the immune system can recognize.
After the firing of the CDC’s vaccine panel, the new panel, appointed by Secretary of Health Robert. F. Kennedy Jr., decided to reverse the previous guidelines by implementing individual-based decision-making, which means that anyone interested in receiving a COVID-19 vaccine is required to consult with a health care professional to hear the benefits and potential side effects.
Kennedy and the newly appointed panel have all expressed skepticism towards vaccines and their administration to patients.
This, however, was not the first change to the COVID-19 vaccine. Kennedy recently cut $500 million in funding toward mRNA vaccine research, which could greatly increase potential risks of future vaccines and how they are administered.
Jim O’Neill, acting director of the CDC, claimed that “CDC’s 2022 blanket recommendation for perpetual COVID-19 boosters deterred health care providers from talking about the risks and benefits of vaccination for the individual patient or parent,” stating that after the pandemic, health care providers did not routinely go over the consequences of taking the vaccine.
In response, Dr. Tina Tan, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, said, “The claim that the past recommendations deterred health care professionals from talking to patients about risks is completely untrue and is another example of the misinformation and made up information that this administration continues to release to the public and further creates confusion and distrust in healthcare providers and vaccines.”
The MMRV vaccine is typically given to children 12 months old. The CDC now plans to split the vaccine into two parts, one for MMR and the other for varicella.
They also plan to have the combined MMRV vaccine as a booster for children four to six years old.
Since the pandemic, COVID-19 has become a mainstay seasonal disease, similar to influenza (flu) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), both of which cause the common cold.
These changes to the guidelines cause confusion for people wanting to be immunized for COVID-19 and for parents who want their children to gain immunity to measles, mumps, rubella and varicella.
These vaccines have been shown to save numerous lives from these diseases and have had extensive research and testing put into them for the safety of their use.