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J20 minus 68 — update your vaccinations

RFK Jr. might be in charge of our vaccines. Get what you can now while you can.

Emily Gorcenski

Emily Gorcenski

— 4 min read
J20 minus 68 — update your vaccinations
Photo by Sascha Pfyl / Unsplash

Donald Trump is starting to name his cabinet, diplomatic corps, and appointed officials, and yep, it's all shaping up to be as ridiculous as you imagined it would be. Two of the many roles the President has the privilege to nominate[1] are the Secretary of Health and Human Services[2] and the head of the FDA, the Commissioner of Food and Drugs.[3] The consensus chatter is that Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a known antivaxxer, is expected to be nominated either to the Commissioner of Food and Drugs role or to the Secretary of Health and Human Services position.

As the head of the agency responsible for drug approvals—and their withdrawal—the Commissioner of Food and Drugs has wide-ranging authority to shape public health. The Commissioner does not rule by diktat, but there are myriad procedural steps through which a determined Agency could do things like remove vaccines from the market or prohibit human subjects research. There are numerous lower-level actions that can likewise be taken to disrupt a vaccine's supply chain, such as suspending a drug manufacturer's registration. This isn't limited to the COVID-19 vaccines, either—in principle, this could affect every vaccine on the market, from the influenza vaccine to MMR shots.[4]

How can you prepare in light of this news? The position of Left✊ to Our Own Devices is that community health is an essential element of community defense, and vaccination is an important element of community health. We honor individuals' personal choices in the matter and acknowledge that many individuals have reasons they personally cannot receive one or more vaccines. However, we encourage our readers to read about the science—vaccines have probably saved more lives than any other scientific development in human history. It is also our position that vaccines should be free and easily accessible to all, regardless of economic background, migration status, or anything else. This post does not constitute medical advice, and please speak to your doctor and follow their advice about any vaccines you might receive.

It will take some time for even a determined FDA Commissioner to make his way through the red tape to enact his anti-science agenda, but we shouldn't count on this. With just over two months until the inauguration, now is a perfect time to review your and your families' vaccination records and refresh what you might need. Don't only focus on seasonal vaccines line COVID-19 or the Flu vaccine. It's also worth double checking whether you are current on other vaccines. These can include:

  • COVID-19 vaccines;
  • Polyvalent[5] influenza vaccines;
  • Tetanus boosters;
  • HPV vaccines for those under 26;
  • Hepatitis B vaccines;
  • Adults born after 1957 can receive a Measels, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine;
  • Shingles vaccines, particularly for those 50 and older, or 19 and older who are immunocompromised
  • Pneumococcal vaccines for those 65 and older, or 19 and older who are immunocompromised;
  • Meningococcal vaccine for children and at-risk adults;
  • others that your doctor may recommend. You can read more at the Mayo Clinic's website.

As many vaccines shouldn't be taken together or within a certain time period from each other, it might take you a few weeks or more to get caught up on everything. So it's a good time to start now.

For some vaccines, namely against flu and COVID, the CDC runs a website where you can find vaccine locations near you. This is supposedly updated daily with the latest inventory availability, but we shouldn't be surprised when Trump's CDC head orders it taken down. So it might be worth making a list of likely locations now.

If you have had vaccinations recently, double check your medical records and store them somewhere safe. If you don't have them or can't find them, you can ask your primary care provider (PCP) for those records, if you have one. If you don't have a PCP or don't remember who your PCP was when you were last vaccinated, talk to a doctor about whether it makes sense to receive a booster just in case.

It may be that RFK Jr. doesn't get tapped for either of these roles. It may be that he backs off his threats. But there's enough uncertainty around the stability of the future vaccine supply in the United States that a little preparation now can help keep you, your loved ones, and your community healthy for years in the future.

  1. The President nominates candidates for some 12-1400 roles, excluding federal judges. These roles require Senate confirmation and are known as PAS roles, for Presidential Appointment needing Senate confirmation. After each election, these roles along with some 8,000 other federal leadership roles are published in something known as the Plum Book. However, there is a loophole to Senate confirmation: per the Vacancies Act, the President may nominate someone to a temporary "Acting" role for 210 days, or 300 days if named in the first 60 days of the presidential term. ↩︎

  2. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level position acting under authority of the executive branch. Agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institues of Health (NIH), and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) fall under the HHS's ambit. ↩︎

  3. The Food and Drug Administration sits under the Department of Health and Human Services. Its mission is to protect public health by regulating the safety of drugs, medical devices, food, and cosmetics, among other things. However, it's not entirely cut and dry. The US Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Food Safety and and Inspection Service (FSIS) is primarily responsible for meat, poulty and egg products. USDA is a separate cabinet agency headed by the Secretary of Agriculture. ↩︎

  4. It's not unheard of for effective vaccines to go off the market. In 2002, GlaxoSmithKline, facing pressure and lawsuits from anti-vaxxers, withdrew the only Lyme disease vaccine approved for use humans from the market. Though the FDA did not support the plaintiffs' conclusions in this suit, the manufacturer's voluntary withdrawal has left thousands of people to suffer this horrible infection despite a safe and effective vaccine existing. ↩︎

  5. A polyvalent vaccine protects against multiple strains of a disease. The predominant flu strain can change year by year and can differ based on geography. The polyvalent vaccines try to predict which strains might be most prevalent in a given year and to protect against as many as possible. ↩︎

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