Since I can remember, education milestones have been marked with a routine trip to the doctors for a vaccination. I received them going into elementary school, moving up to middle school, high school, and even before college. Of course there were a few in between, for example, the flu shot and the time I opted in for the tetanus shot when traveling abroad. However, these were not mandatory. I personally agreed to receive the shot. This blog will focus on mandatory vaccinations. Beginning with what are the mandatory vaccinations? Why are they mandatory? What is the federal policy? Finally finishing with new regulations on vaccinations.
Babies, before leaving the hospital, receive their first dose of Hepatitis B. Then for months one to two, babies receive their second dose of Hepatitis B, along with DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, and whooping cough), polio, rotavirus, pneumococcal, and haemophilus influenzae type b. Many of these vaccinations come in stages, and will be spread out from months one to two, even going into four months and six months. These vaccinations are to protect the children, and help build immunity for the following years of the child’s life. For 7 to 11 month olds, the CDC recommends that a child receive their first flu vaccine but there are no required vaccinations. Babies 12 to 24 months receive the chickenpox vaccine, Hep A and, the final doses for the vaccines started in months one to two. Then as children age they will receive less, and less vaccinations.
Vaccines fall under the Food and Drug Administration licensure. There was a decline in vaccine production capacity, so in 1986 Congress approved the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NCVIA). This established the National Vaccine Program, within the Department of Health and Human Services, which would provide many services. These services include: coordinating and overseeing all activities within the US government related to vaccine research and development, vaccine-safety monitoring, and vaccination activities. As the name suggests, the law is involved in helping injured parties. This Act also set up the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program which would compensate for injuries sustained with routinely administered vaccines. However, this doesn’t explain why kids must be vaccinated for school.While vaccines fall under the federal government’s supervisions, it is states that have the power for regulating who needs a vaccination. Massachusetts was the first state, in the 1850’s, that required children to receive a vaccination to prevent the transmit of smallpox. However, the legality of such measures has been questioned several times over the many years the laws have been in place. The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the states regulations. The number of states with rules on children receiving vaccinations has increased, especially after the CDC urged states to adopt some sort of policy. Under the Public Health Service Act of 1944, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services is required to assist states in “the prevention and suppression of communicable diseases.” Also under the PHSA, the US Surgeon General if approved by the Department of HHS, has authority to “make and enforce such regulations as in his judgement are necessary to prevent the introduction, transmission, or spread of communicable diseases from foreign countries into the States or possessions, or from one State or possessions into any other State or possessions.” While this blog is mainly examining federal policy, there is a large overlap of federal and state reliance that it is hard to have an only federal government discussion. To wrap up this blog, states are the main instigators for vaccination requirements but after COVID-19 and the federal government’s increased involvement in regulation it could be possible for future federal vaccine laws.
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