Attorney General Alan Wilson opposes CDC’s COVID-19 vaccine recommendation for children
October 21, 2022
AG Wilson calls on ACIP to reject adding COVID-19 vaccine to the list of childhood immunizations and the VFC
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has joined other attorneys general in calling on the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) not to include the COVID-19 vaccination on the list of child immunizations. The state chief legal officers slammed the ACIP for two votes taken at the October 2022 meetings this week, which occurred prior to the close of the public comment period.
“It’s important for South Carolinians to remember that this is a CDC recommendation. The CDC does not have the power to require this vaccine nor should it,” said Attorney General Wilson said. “This is a state decision, and I will oppose any effort to add the COVID-19 vaccine to the list of shots that children must get to go to school.”
In a public comment letter submitted to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Director Rochelle Wolensky – the 12 attorneys general also call on the ACIP not to include the COVID-19 vaccine in the Vaccines for Children Program (VFC), a program created by Congress in the wake of a measles outbreak to ensure that kids from low-income families have access to free vaccines.
“The COVID-19 vaccine does not provide the same protection against life-threatening illnesses. Instead, it could put more kids at risk instead of protecting them, which is the purpose of the VCF,” wrote the attorneys general. “The CDC should not be treating kids in low-income households as lab experiments. Nor should pharmaceutical companies be allowed to use low-income families as cash cows.”
The letter also states, “Vaccines currently on the schedule provide protection against deadly viruses such as polio, measles, mumps, and rotavirus. Such viruses have killed millions of children over the years, and when children are not vaccinated against these viruses, they are at risk of serious illness or death. COVID-19, however, is different. COVID-19 does not pose the same danger to kids as polio or measles, nor does the vaccine provide the same protection.”
Joining Attorneys General Wilson and Louisiana AG Jeff Landry in this letter to the CDC are the attorneys general of Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas.
You can read the letter here.
