According to Boise State Public Radio (BSPR), Idaho’s local health department, which covers six counties, appears to be the first in the nation to stop providing coronavirus vaccines.
According to Boise State Public Radio, the Southwest District Health Department (SDH) board decided to approve the vaccine on October 22, 2024, after receiving approximately 300 public comments on the vaccine and anti-vaccine presentations from multiple doctors. It was voted 4-3 to remove it from the office. reported.
This decision is believed to be the first of its kind in the country. “I don’t know of anything else like this,” said Adrian Casarotti, director of government and communications for the National Association of County and City Health Officials. said Associated Press (AP).
Dr. Perry Jansen, a district staff physician and medical director, did not support the decision. According to BSPR, Janssen told the board in a pre-vote presentation: “We truly serve as a safety net provider for people who cannot otherwise access health care, primarily for financial reasons. “There is,” he said. “We can provide free or discounted services to people who do not have access to private healthcare.”
“Our request to the board is to be able to carry them and provide them. [vaccines]Jansen added that he recognizes there is always a debate about risks and benefits, according to the Associated Press. “This is not a blind, one-size-fits-all approach. This is a thoughtful approach.”
Four critics of coronavirus vaccines — Dr. Peter McCullough, a Texas-based cardiologist, pediatrician and former associate professor at Washington State University School of Medicine; Dr. James A. Thorpe, a Florida-based gynecologist; According to Dr. Ryan BSPR, the state pathologist for the state of Idaho, Mr. Cole gave a presentation to the board. All four reportedly clashed with health officials over criticism of coronavirus vaccines. (Related: ‘Science and public health failure’: Fauci admits COVID-19 vaccinations had no chance of controlling pandemic)
Dr. John Tribble, the only physician on the SDH board, reportedly invited the presenters. “[Patients] “You show up at your door trusting us, and we keep breaking that trust by saying, implicitly or not, that there’s no danger in these things,” he added, according to BSPR. ” he added. (Related: Fact check: Have 1 billion people died since the development of the COVID-19 vaccine?)
Board Chair Kelly Aberrasturi said the board’s decision to remove access to the vaccine for everyone in its jurisdiction is because many people who need the vaccine reportedly receive a referral from a doctor. questioned authority.
“So you’re saying I have the right to override that doctor’s decision because I know more than he does?” Aberasturi said, according to BSPR. “It has to do with the right of individuals to make their own decisions. I’m not going to dictate what they do. I’m sorry, but this pisses me off.”
Casarotti told The Associated Press that health officials stopped offering the vaccine because of cost and low demand, not “a decision about the medical product itself.”
SDH is one of seven public health districts in Idaho, serving Adams, Canyon, Gem, Owyhee, Payette, and Washington counties. According to Go to that website. According to the Associated Press, demand for coronavirus vaccines across the six counties has plummeted from 1,601 in 2021 to 64 in 2024 at the time of writing. Although the vaccine is no longer free, it is still cheap but not subsidized by SDH, BSPR reported.
Other vaccines and treatments could also be blocked following the SDH’s decision, Aberasturi told The Associated Press. Idaho reportedly has the highest childhood immunization exemption rate in the United States.
A rare measles outbreak in September 2023 triggered SDH’s measles containment efforts. Cases of the childhood disease whooping cough have jumped from 10 cases in 2023 to 171 cases in 2024 at the time of writing across SDH and another health department, SDH. said In early September.
