On Monday, Jan. 5, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released updated guidelines on the number of vaccine shots children should receive. Under the new guidelines, vaccinations are no longer recommended for flu, rotavirus, meningitis, hepatitis A, and hepatitis B. These changes come amid a severe flu season, which has caused the highest number of cases in over 30 years and about 120,000 hospitalizations nationwide, according to Stanford Medicine News Center. Recently, the flu claimed the life of a child from San Mateo, according to health teacher Malcolm Davis.
At Burlingame, senior Emma Shi said more students are getting sick lately, and the illnesses have lasted longer than usual. Science teacher Karen Hartmann also noticed more absences in her classes, and she is unsure whether students understand the reasons they are getting sick.
“Even in all of my classes, there has been a number of students from every period that have been absent because they are sick with something, whether it’s the cold or the flu,” Hartmann said. “I’m sure students talk with their friends, and they figure out so and so is sick. But I don’t know if they know the reason for why people are getting sick, especially during this flu season.”
According to San Mateo County (SMC) Health Education Program Coordinator Tamta Mchedlishvili, the severity of the flu season is a result of a new strain spreading more quickly than prior strains.
“Subclave K is the main strain right now that is driving this year’s flu surge, and this is because it has changed enough that people’s immune systems aren’t recognizing [it] well,” Mchedlishvili said. “And what happens is that these mutations make the virus spread more easily and cause strong symptoms.”
Given the surging flu, Shi said she believes the reduced vaccine recommendations could make illnesses such as the flu more severe in the future, and could even lead to a repeat of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I have parents that work in healthcare. It’s always been pretty well known to me that vaccines are the reason people aren’t suffering from extreme versions of the illnesses,” Shi said. “I think it’s quite silly to say that we don’t need this anymore because we only don’t need them anymore because we’ve been using vaccines to stop them. If you suddenly stop using them, we don’t really know what’s going to happen, because we’ve had them for so long.”
Despite the importance of vaccines, senior Ivana Ma said the average student is not aware of the new vaccine recommendations.
“I don’t know if everybody in our average school would know about these changes themselves, but I do think that it is important to know about it and be aware,” Ma said.
Regardless of the CDC recommendations, Mchedlishvili said students should continue to get vaccinated against the flu and align their vaccination schedules with the California guidelines.
“California is keeping the vaccines that were previously recommended. They remain the same, they have not been removed, and insurance continues to cover all recommended vaccines in California,” Mchedlishvili said.
Outside of the flu, the CDC also stopped recommending vaccination against measles, which is currently spreading in the United States. According to the CDC, there were 2255 confirmed cases of measles last year, the highest level since 1991.
“There’s a massive measles outbreak in the United States, which has been pretty much almost eradicated for some years,” Davis said. “I don’t know why, given the opportunity to vaccinate yourself and protect yourself and potentially others. Why you would not go ahead and do that?”
Hartmann said she thinks U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy Jr. installed the new vaccine recommendations because of his personal anti-vaccine ideologies.
“He’s trying to make this argument that, ‘Why are we wasting so much money vaccinating newborns?’” Hartmann said. “So that’s my understanding of why the government shifted to these recommendations. But that’s another reason why it worries me, because Kennedy’s background is not in medicine. I think he has a legal background as a lawyer, but not anything in medicine.”
Beyond getting vaccinated, Davis recommends students take care of their bodies to avoid contracting the flu or other viruses.
“With things like measles and those other four or five very contagious viruses that can get passed, it goes hand in hand with what I was saying earlier, with taking care of your body when it comes to your sleep and your physical activity in your diet and refraining from excessive substance abuse,” Davis said. “If you’re creating room for something like that to live and exist inside your body, then you’re just kind of inviting that into that area, which can.”
Hartmann also said students should stay informed and consult sources outside of the CDC to make their decisions.
“I would say stay informed. Read about what the purpose of these vaccines are and make an informed decision,” Hartmann said. “Unfortunately, I don’t know if the CDC and the government are the best trusted sources anymore, so do your own research. I always recommend students to get the flu shot every season.”
In addition, Mchedlishvili recommends that students use the monthly newsletter sent out by the SMC Health Department. The newsletter contains county recommendations regarding vaccines and provides residents with information on staying healthy.
“This is our way of delivering the right message and letting people know which recommendations they should follow, because we understand that there’s a lot of social media influence and a lot of misleading news out there,” Mchedlishvili said.
