Emilie Thompson is a physician practicing in Baltimore in the field of hematology and oncology. As a doctor, she worries about the radical steps the current HHS administration has taken in changing the recommended vaccine schedule. There are now six vaccines removed from the schedule in the United States: rotavirus, COVID-19, influenza, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and meningococcal vaccines. The new recommendations put the US as an outlier among peer nations in recommending so few vaccines for children.
Dr. Thompson is also the granddaughter of Baruch Blumberg, one of the developers of the hepatitis B vaccine. In her impassioned essay, she describes her father’s Nobel prize-winning work in developing the vaccine. She goes on to explain the importance of vaccination against hepatitis B. The vaccine was introduced in 1981, and we saw the incidence of the disease drop from 9.6 per 100,000 to 1 per 100,000, a 90% decrease. Ironically, I grabbed these statistics from the CDC, an agency under the supervision of HHS. Hepatitis B is a chronic, incurable disease that can lead to serious health problems, including liver failure and cancer. Eliminating this vaccine from the childhood schedule leaves these children unprotected and is going to result in hepatitis B infections. It’s reckless. The scientists and doctors who worked long hours to create these vaccines are heroes and have saved countless lives. I am saddened to give this advice: Ignore the HHS and get your kids vaccinated against all these diseases.