Childhood Vaccine Execuitve Order

Executive order came down from President Trump last night pertaining to infant vaccinations, reducing the number of vaccinations and also separating the vaccinations. So here to look at this story and certainly give some opinion on where we are with this, Donna Skoda's on board with us, my good friend, former executive director of the Summit County Health Department. So Donna, first of all, from my listeners. Talk about the executive order and what he did. Good morning, Ray. It's nice to hear your voice and to talk to you, as always. It appears as though what the, you know, this has been going on since 2025, where they've been reducing the number. They wanted all sorts of, you know, preservatives out of vaccine, and it's been kind of an ongoing thing. This order specifically talks about. only having, it's reducing the number, and now there would only be a core set of vaccinations that children would be routine they would want to take. And then there's a whole bunch, like six more, seven more, that are optional with the consulting with a physician as to whether or not your child needs that. And then the other piece of it is, you know, there are combination vaccines like MMR, Meals, Montrevella. Right. They're now saying they would like to have both separated so the children get each one at a different time. The problem with that, it's a huge problem because unless I'm incorrect, but last I ever looked, those aren't even available in the United States anymore to get the single dose. So it would take a whole process to get them manufactured again. So I don't think we're going to see that anytime soon. But yeah, it's problematic in that it's going to confuse everybody. Well, this is Donna Skoda, former executive director of the Summit County Health Department. Donna, when you see, and I think the number of vaccinations went from like 16 or something down to 11 with this executive order. You have been a big proponent of vaccines for a number of years. You and I have touched on it when there's been questions and concerns about certain vaccines. When you look at this, especially for our toddlers and infants. How concerned are you at this or maybe you're not concerned at all? What's your opinion on this? No, I'm very concerned because what will happen and this happens now anyway. There are a lot of missed opportunities to vaccinate children and all kids are at risk. All kids. There isn't a kid out there that's not at risk for RSV. There's not a kid that's out there that's not at risk for COVID-19 influenza. And the interesting thing, all of the pediatric deaths that have occurred with flu usually occur in children that aren't vaccinated.

You know, we spent a long time trying to get rid of the hepatitis risk, hepatitis A, B, and C for kids, and now, you know, that's going to be an optional vaccine. So, yeah, I have a great level of concern, but mostly because I think parents will make a good decision for their children. It's just the confusion factor that's going to go with it. And currently right now, you know, we always think about the payer. You know, the insurance companies are mandated to pay what ASIP, the vaccine recommendations come from, that committee. They're mandated to pay for what they recommend. So there could be eventually some debate as to whether or not they're covered, and some of these are very expensive. An example of that would be like HPV, they want to reduce it from one, two shots to one. And is there insurer going to continue to pay for the second vaccine? And most insurers have come out and said, no, we're going to continue to pay for these items. But, you know, you just wonder down the road if it will continue. Yeah, it's very concerning for families to have to make tough decisions with not a lot of, I think. factual information that might help them make a good decision. She's a former executive director, the Summit County Health Department, Donna Skoda, with me. And both sides of the defense, Donna, you have been there in your former position with costs and health care. And when we look at this decision, and it looks like, you know, the president is putting... The emphasis on you take care of your trial, maybe the way you want it to, your concern is maybe the information isn't out there and how much of this is a dollars and cents and then connected the health care. To me, it looks like they're all intertwined, but it could end up being short for some families who might not have the money to pay for those vaccinations or maybe before they did. Right. I mean, that's a huge concern. And they say, well, we're going to have to charge you for this one, you know. But I think that's down the road. I mean, most insurers have guaranteed they're going to continue to support the American Academy of Pediatrics, which says they don't agree with any of this, and they're still going to offer these vaccines, excuse me. American College of obstetrics and gynecology has also broken with this and said we have our own vaccine schedule for women or any person who is pregnant. So I think in the long and shorter that you're going to see the tide maybe change a little. But I have to say, Ray, my biggest concern is now a parent who is busy, who is working, who is trying to get everything done. We'll now have to probably, we'll go for three appointments if they divide these vaccines again instead of one. And so there's no literature or science that says these combination vaccines harm anyone. They're just really helpful.

So I think we'll see how it all rolls out. I just think it makes a lot of pediatricians and providers their job a lot harder to justify what we know is good science. Yeah, I think we've worked real hard, right, Donna, to try to make this as simplistic as we possibly can for good health care for the toddlers in the infants. And I think to your point right there, now it's going to take numerous trips to the doctor to get this done. And, you know, those of us who have been parents loading them up and then the wear and tear. on the baby and the infants themselves. And I know some people might say, well, that's not a big deal if you want to take care of your child. I agree with that. But still, we got a good thing in place. I'm just not sure why we're kind of ripping it up and starting over again. Yeah, I think it's a philosophical difference. You know, and a lot of the argument for this is that other countries don't do this. Like Denmark doesn't have as many vaccines as the United States or whatever. But you have to understand vaccines are really sort of formulated and given to where you live and where your risk is. Like none of us are taking whatever Ebola vaccine is available because we don't have the risk here. But if you're in parts of Africa, you're going to get the Ebola vaccine hopefully, okay? And so we know all about targeting vaccines for specific issues. And although some countries have different sort of outcomes, I get it, but it doesn't mean the United States has those outcomes. I mean, I think measles is an excellent example of how we're seeing these cases just multiply. And kids are getting measles again, which is just... It's just, it's inexcusable. It doesn't have to happen. There is a very safe vaccine available to prevent that. Yeah. You know, I mean, it's there. When I was a kid, everybody was exposed. And so it was very different. We had some natural immunity. You know, there wasn't a vaccine. But now we have one. And, you know, kids haven't been exposed to this for how many years because of vaccine. It's different. It's going to be really hard on kids, and I fear that children will pay the price. Let me ask you this, Don, and I know this is a little off the road that we're going to talk about this morning, but you mentioned measles. I did have it on my list. Like you, like me, I got the measles vaccine when I was young. Do I need to revisit that now that I'm up there in age a little bit compared to when I got that vaccine as a youngster?

Yeah, typically not, but that's a decision you should make with your health care provider, like everything else. No, typically you wouldn't. It just depends. And particularly, like I was born, you know, 57, so that makes it so that, you know, I probably have some natural immunity. Anybody born before 57 for sure has some immunity. And then if you've ever, like I worked in health care, so I was required to take all the vaccines again. It just depends on your situation. If I were traveling to a country that has measles and genic, and I might consider it, but it just depends on your individual needs. Yeah, the travel and everything is changing for sure, and it's pretty confusing. Donna, to leave our conversation, as you just mentioned a moment ago, opportunities now, and you should take a sit down and talk to your doctors about what this means to you and certainly your children, your grandchildren going forward, right, in regards to these vaccines. Oh, yeah. Like if you're around a new baby, you should have pertusses, which is whooping cough. That's how kids get whooping cough. Adults give it to them. You know, it's that transmission. So if you're going to have a new grandchild, a lot of times you have to take a T-DEP, which is a tetanus and pertussis. But you have to take that. A lot of physicians recommend that to new grandparents that they get updated on that shot. You know, and I think if you're going to be around new babies, you have to understand you could be the person that takes it to them. Yeah. And it's hard on little ones. That's the thing. These kids can struggle. And we know from COVID, Ray, we know that we don't know how these viruses affect everyone. And some people are left with some long-term issues that just don't seem to go away. Agreed. Donna, thank you so much for the insight. And always my friend, I got a hold of Donna last night when I saw some of this come down. I said, do you have time? She said, absolutely. So I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Oh, you're welcome, buddy. I'll talk to you soon. For more interviews on 93.5-1590 WAKR, tune in to the Ray Horner Morning Show Monday through Fridays between 6 and 9 o'clock and listen for more interviews at wakr.net and our WAKR app.