TAMPA, Fla. — On Thursday, a CDC Advisory Committee met for the second day in a row to discuss routine vaccination. On the agenda was whether COVID-19 should be added to immunization schedules.
The independent advisers voted 15-0 to add most COVID-19 vaccines offered in the United States to the childhood, adolescent and adult immunization schedules.
The schedules are updated every fall before going into effect the next year.
You may have seen them at your doctor's office, where they give specific recommendations per age group for what vaccines are needed.
That would sometimes be listed as DTaP, polio, chickenpox and now COVID-19.
It's important to note that these inclusions on the schedules do not mean mandates. We spoke with one Tampa Bay Area mom who said when it comes to vaccinating her children, she has to weigh the risks and the benefits.
“I'm a mom of three. I have three daughters, 12,10 and seven." Kimberly Lasher explained. "All three of our children are asthmatic, so, you know, the risk of them getting an infection like the flu or covid, they could have, you know, very adverse reactions to the viruses. So that's very important in our household."
Lasher said making health decisions for her family isn’t something she does on her own.
"We follow CDC and pediatrician guidelines in our household. So we go by, you know, what our pediatrician recommends. So every year we do flu shots, and we started adding COVID vaccine and boosters to the vaccines we receive for our children," she added.
Dr. Cynthia Wood White, a pediatrician with Pediatric Health Care Alliance, said a lot of parents were hesitant about vaccinating their children for COVID.
"After the numbers went up, and now that it's been out for a little bit longer, we do see a lot more people vaccinating, and now we're vaccinating all the way down to six months of age with the COVID vaccine," Dr. Wood White said.
Dr. Wood White said pediatricians are sending parents home with the same advice.
"Whenever you have a bunch of people, whether it’s adults or kids, a bunch of people in a small area, then the chances of transmitting any of the illnesses from RSV to flu to COVID markedly goes up. So yeah, we all highly recommend that both the kids and adults get the covid vaccine," she said.
For Lasher, while a COVID vaccine isn’t required for students, she said she hopes other parents will research the best decision for their family.
“It's hard to, you know, expect people to do exactly what you're going to do. And I also think there's a lot of judgment out there regarding that, and you just need to be firm in your research and in your beliefs and make the best decisions for your family," Lasher concluded.
