Democrats press CDC director over Trump order giving parents more vaccine choice

• Democratic lawmakers want Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Erica Schwartz to say if agency scientists shaped Trump’s vaccine order.
• The August 10 order trims recommended childhood vaccines from 18 to 11 and seeks separate measles, mumps and rubella shots.
• Pennsylvania reports five ‘measles-associated’ deaths, but the CDC’s national tally lists only two.
• The lawmakers also ask why the CDC delayed opening COVID vaccine orders for low-income children until September 24.
• Schwartz must respond in writing by October 16.

More than two dozen Democratic lawmakers are demanding that Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Erica Schwartz explain whether career scientists had any input on the executive order President Trump signed August 10, a move slashing recommended childhood vaccines from 18 to 11 and calling for the MMR shot to be split into three separate injections once individual shots become available.

The lawmakers, led by Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado and Rep. Kim Schrier of Washington, also question whether the agency altered Pennsylvania’s measles death statistics — the state counts five deaths, while the CDC’s national tally lists two — and have set an October 16 deadline for written responses.

Lawmakers cite Schwartz’s pledge to ‘never betray the science’

The frustration, detailed in a letter sent last week, centers on concerns over scientific integrity at the nation’s top public health agency. Schwartz, in her confirmation hearing, pledged to “never betray the science.” The lawmakers argue that the formal request for information HHS issued after the order appears to bypass the CDC and its vaccine advisory committee.

“As CDC Director, you bear a responsibility to uphold scientific integrity, and we write seeking answers on how the CDC will respond to the EO and the RFI, and how you will honor the pledge you made to ensure that the CDC leads with evidence-based public health,” the letter states. The lawmakers also asked what scientific evidence supports the changes and whether the CDC will carry them out.

Questions emerge over Pennsylvania measles death counts

A significant flashpoint involves discrepancies between Pennsylvania’s reported measles fatalities and what the CDC has officially acknowledged. Pennsylvania has reported five measles-associated deaths, while the CDC’s national tally lists only two and notes the number could change as reviews are completed. The CDC has not said which states the two came from. The lawmakers warned Schwartz that if the agency is “altering verified state data to fit political preferences, the pledge you made at your confirmation hearing has already been broken.”

The CDC says it is still reviewing the Pennsylvania cases thoroughly verifying the science. In August, the agency said it was working to determine what happened and that the governor’s office had not provided relevant information and had declined offers of assistance. Pennsylvania Health Secretary Dr. Debra Bogen disputed that account, saying both deaths were reported to the CDC’s measles response team and thoroughly investigated.

Delayed COVID vaccine orders and a reworked childhood schedule

Beyond the measles data dispute, lawmakers demanded to know why COVID vaccine orders in the Vaccines for Children program, a federal effort that supplies immunizations to low-income families, did not open until September 24.

The Trump administration’s executive order, signed August 10, explicitly places vaccines for hepatitis A, hepatitis B, rotavirus, meningococcal disease, influenza, and COVID-19 in a category based on “shared clinical decision-making.” It also directs an HHS task force to present plans within 90 days for offering single vaccines, starting with MMR, while guaranteeing the combined shot stays available, and to develop alternatives to the aluminum adjuvants used in some vaccines.

Parental choice, informed consent and trust in the CDC

Trump previously signed an executive order in May, but litigation over the makeup of the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee and separate schedule changes has delayed the administration’s directives, underscoring a battle over who controls vaccine recommendations.

Schwartz now has until October 16 to say whether CDC scientists had a hand in the order. The order itself says federal programs should support “maximal parental choice” grounded in informed consent, and it calls for better vaccine safety monitoring and transparency. Congress is asking whether anyone at the CDC was consulted. Parents have their own version of that question: whether anyone consulted them.

Sources for this article include:

CIDRAP.UMN.edu

FoxNews.com

WhiteHouse.gov