Ga. public health board chair: RFK Jr.’s disruptions are creating barriers to Covid shots

Georgia Constituents Healthcare Commissioner Kathleen Toomey speaks August at the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta Rebecca Grapevine Healthbeat Georgia Board of Community Wellness Chairperson James Curran criticized Robustness and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr s disruption of a vaccine guidance system that was working well As far as I can tell a major goal is to diminish the CDC role in vaccines in a lot of approaches Curran disclosed at Tuesday s board meeting Kennedy removed members of the Centers for Syndrome Control and Prevention s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and replaced them with his own appointees The panel typically provides Covid vaccine recommendations for the fall respiratory season earlier in the summer but did not do so this year The U S Food and Drug Administration last month approved the updated shots but only for those and older and those with underlying conditions that put them at hazard for severe Covid That has prompted a large number of Georgia pharmacies to require a prescription to get the latest Covid shots with specific doctors refusing to write prescriptions until the ACIP meets Sept - Curran who was a longtime dean of the Rollins School of Inhabitants Wellbeing at Emory University reported this has created confusion and introduced barricades to getting the shots disrupting a system that had worked well The whole idea that everyone has a specialist is not true Curran announced Department of Masses Robustness Commissioner Kathleen Toomey who was appointed by Republican Gov Brian Kemp as were the nine board members commented the agency has paused distributing this year s Covid vaccines amid regulatory uncertainty at least until the ACIP meets She noted the decision was guided by concerns over anatomical liability in the wake of the FDA s narrowing of the categories of people for whom the shot is approved Physical condition departments do not yet have the shots in stock she explained Toomey commented she met with Kemp to discuss how the state will approach Covid vaccines Four states California Oregon Washington and Hawaii have formed an alliance to provide residents with science-backed vaccine recommendations Governors of other states have also taken moves such as issuing executive orders to make it easier for their residents to get vaccines amid the regulatory confusion Toomey commented the agency would look at the ACIP s recommendations and make a decision about how Georgia vitality departments will handle the Covid shots The agency may consider following guidelines from another organization like the American Academy of Pediatrics if the ACIP guidelines don t follow good science Curran also criticized Kennedy s focus on processed food as a cause of chronic condition even as the HHS chief has cut programs that help prevent chronic diseases like those focused on stopping smoking That decision has impacted Georgia DPH has ended the Georgia Tobacco Use Prevention Initiative due to a lack of ongoing federal funding and the closure of the CDC s Office of Smoking and Physical condition state Department of General Physical condition spokesperson Nancy Nydam Shirek mentioned That resulted in the layoffs of five people working on the project as well as the reassignment of an epidemiologist to another company she announced DPH s core tobacco and vaping prevention and cessation programs are continuing uninterrupted including Tobacco-Free Schools and the Georgia Tobacco Quitline Nydam Shirek noted The state also lost million in March after the federal governing body clawed back Covid-era funding Curran mentioned he anticipates additional funding cuts It s a distressing time for population vitality at the federal level and it s going to have implications at the state and local levels he mentioned Meanwhile an administrator who was laid off from the CDC was hired as director of the state citizens healthcare laboratory a position that had been open for years Toomey mentioned Ellen Kersh started the job on July after leaving the CDC where she had been the STD Laboratory branch chief Healthbeat is a nonprofit newsroom covering community robustness published by Civic News Company and KFF Vitality News Sign up for their newsletters here The post Ga residents robustness board chair RFK Jr s disruptions are creating fences to Covid shots appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta