Arizona Legislators Remind Parents That There Is No COVID-19 Shot Mandate

October 23, 2022 ADI Staff Reporter
vaccine

In response to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC)and Federal Drug Administration (FDA) adding COVID-19 shots to the list of recommended vaccines for children, Arizona lawmakers are reminding parents that there is no mandate for the shots in Arizona’s public schools or public universities.

During the last legislative session, Arizona lawmakers passed HB2498, sponsored by Rep. Jake Hoffman and signed into law by Governor Doug Ducey, which specifically “prohibits a government entity from requiring a resident of this state to receive a vaccination for COVID-19 or any variant of COVID-19.”

Lawmakers are reminding parents of the law based on their concerns that county health departments will adopt the recommendations, local school districts will follow suit, and parents could then be misled as to their obligation to have their children given the shot.

The lawmakers’ concerns seem warranted. Despite the fact that the Surgeon General of the State of Florida released a study showing a high incidents of heart issues for young men, the Arizona Department of Health Services and county health departments are promoting the shots and boosters for children as young as 6 months.

In a blog post, Carla Berg, a non-physician and Deputy Director for Public Health Services at the Arizona Department of Health Services, urged parents to consider giving their young children the “updated COVID-19 vaccine boosters targeting Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 as well as the original coronavirus.”

When asked what science Berg was relying on for the recommendation, ADHS spokesman Steve Elliott responded by email, “The blog states the reasons for the recommendation, and this is based on thorough review by the FDA and CDC. We have not reviewed the Florida official’s statement in detail but understand the assessment to carry the notations “preliminary” and “should be interpreted with caution.”

In her blog, Berg acknowledged that most healthy children are not at grave risk from COVID but added the now debunked claim that children are “super spreaders.” She wrote, “Children have a much lower risk than older adults of developing severe illness from COVID-19, but there’s simply no reason to take this chance when vaccines have proven to be so safe and effective. In addition, children share the risk of developing long COVID and also can pass COVID-19 to more vulnerable people.”

Contrary to Berg’s claims that the shots have “proven to be so safe and effective,” Florida State Surgeon General Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo, a physician, announced new guidance on the shots in light of the Florida Department of Health (Department) analysis based on “a self-controlled case series, which is a technique originally developed to evaluate vaccine safety:”

This analysis found that there is an 84% increase in the relative incidence of cardiac-related death among males 18-39 years old within 28 days following mRNA vaccination. With a high level of global immunity to COVID-19, the benefit of vaccination is likely outweighed by this abnormally high risk of cardiac-related death among men in this age group. Non-mRNA vaccines were not found to have these increased risks.

As such, the State Surgeon General recommends against males aged 18 to 39 from receiving mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. Those with preexisting cardiac conditions, such as myocarditis and pericarditis, should take particular caution when making this decision.

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