Youngkin says Va. will not follow CDC recommendation on COVID shots

Gov. Glenn Youngkin indicates he will not follow a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention committee recommendation that COVID vaccines be added to regular immunization schedules for children.

The CDC recommends children and adults receive vaccines for Hepatitis B, Rotavirus and other diseases at certain age milestones. It has no ability to mandate shots for entry to school, a decision left to each state.

On Wednesday, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted to add COVID shots to the CDC’s list of routinely recommended vaccines. 

But Youngkin announced on Twitter late Thursday that parents should make the decision on whether their children receive COVID shots. 

“The decision to vaccinate a child against COVID-19 is for Virginia parents to make about what’s best for them and their family,” Youngkin tweeted.

He called the CDC’s announcement a mandate, even though it isn’t.

“We will not adhere to these @CDCgov mandates,” he added. “In Virginia, parents matter.”

The CDC makes suggestions for when children and adults should receive a number of vaccines. Its first recommendation is for infants to receive a shot for Hepatitis B at birth. By two months of age, it recommends several others, including DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis), Hib (Haemophilus influenzae type b) and polio. 

For adults, it recommends annual flu shots, Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis) every 10 years and other vaccinations.

The CDC’s recommendation adds COVID shots to the a federal program, the Vaccines for Children Program, which allow low-income kids to receive immunizations at no cost, said Logan Anderson, a spokesperson for the Virginia Department of Health. The addition of COVID shots to the program likely won’t occur until next year.

But the recommendation has no bearing on what shots are necessary to enroll in school. For a change to occur, the General Assembly would have to pass legislation or the Board of Health would have to pursue a regulatory update, which requires public notice and a 60-day comment period, Anderson said. 

“There is no direct, immediate impact on COVID-19 vaccine being added to the immunization schedule on school-required vaccines in Virginia,” Anderson added.

While Youngkin has recommended adults receive COVID shots, he has been less bullish on shots for children. In Virginia, young children and babies have been less likely to get the shots than teenagers and young adults, as young children are less likely to develop serious COVID illnesses.

In the summer, Youngkin said he wants “people to make their own decision” about COVID vaccines for babies. 

Youngkin has diverged from CDC guidance in the past. In the summer, he announced the state health department would no longer recommend masks in schools, daycares and summer camps, even though the CDC still recommended masks when community levels of COVID are high. 

Macaulay Porter, a spokesperson for the governor, did not address why Youngkin called the CDC’s recommendation a mandate. 

“Virginia Democrats are still in favor of the big-government, business-crushing, school-closing edicts that they issued during the pandemic,” Porter said. “As the governor reiterated this week, in Virginia, parents matter.”