Health officials debate young vaccinations

Members of the Washington County Board of Health disagreed over plans to offer vaccine clinics for young children above the age of 6 months. The shots were approved by the FDA June 17 and recommended by the CDC the day after.

“We have reserved that vaccine, we currently have one clinic scheduled for the month of July,” Public Health Director Emily Tokheim said. “We have received several phone calls inquiring about our vaccine availability, especially for younger kiddos … we’ll probably add another clinic.”

Board Member and County Supervisor Jack Seward Jr. said he was hesitant.

“I’d like to discuss whether we think it’s really a good idea to be giving these vaccines to infants and children up to age 5,” he said. “I know there’s at least one state in the country that is not participating, and … there are other counties in the state that are not offering it.”

Tokheim said those counties not offering the vaccines were not worried about its safety.

“The other counties that I’ve talked with, it’s just because of staff time. They’re short-staffed, they don’t have the time,” she said. “Kids are difficult to vaccinate compared to an older adult, so the conversations I’ve had, it’s more just for their staff resources that they’ve chosen not to.”

Still, Seward said he remained skeptical.

“I would not like to see us participate, because of some of the other studies that have come through that say there is a very little risk to the younger children,” he said. “It hasn’t been studied, we don’t know what the long-term effects are … I’m not convinced it’s worth pursuing.”

Board Member Christopher Grier said he was also unenthusiastic about the vaccines.

“I’m certainly concerned about the safety of these sorts of things and certainly concerned about what data we get and what data we don’t get as a public,” he said. “This brand-new technology (is) certainly something that has not had nearly enough time to be studied.”

Tokheim said she was confident in the data supporting the newly approved shots.

“From everything I’ve seen, these vaccines for these young kiddos are safe,” she said. “We’ve done a lot of our own research, I know Karri (Fisher) has been monitoring all of the information that’s come out very closely, as have I.”

WCPH Director of Nursing Karri Fisher said health administrators had a responsibility to make the vaccine available, and that providing the vaccine didn’t mean endorsing it.

“We’re a public health agency, and whether we personally agree or disagree, our job is to educate the public, educate ourselves, and provide the offering for people in the public to make their own decisions,” she said. “I don’t think that it’s proper to strongly pressure or advocate on any kind of medical treatment. But I do think it’s proper, in a public health venue, to provide the education and the treatment.”

Board Member Dr. Trevor Martin said he agreed.

“There are some parents out there that are going to get this right away, they’ve looked at this, they’ve kind of weighed benefits and risks,” he said. “I do think we should be an avenue that provides it, I don’t think we have to tell people, ‘You absolutely have to do this,’ … no treatment is without risk, they have to know there’s potential risks, they have to weigh that with the benefit. That’s something they can decide.”

As of Friday morning, a notice on the Washington County Public Health web page says the walk-in COVID vaccination clinic still is on the schedule, set for July 21.

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com