A fight over vaccines is causing shockwaves in Washington and concern among medical professionals in South Carolina.
It all began on Aug. 27 when U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic, announced this fall’s Covid shot would be approved only for Americans 65 and older or those with underlying medical risks. Up to now, the vaccine has been available to all Americans six months and older.
The following day, the White House fired Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Susan Monarez, a Trump appointee from just a month ago. But she reportedly resisted Kennedy’s push to purge career health officials and further restrict vaccine access.
Monarez’s ouster set off a wave of turmoil, with at least three top CDC leaders resigning and dozens of staff staging a walkout in protest. By late Thursday, Kennedy deputy Jim O’Neill had been installed as acting director of the agency.
South Carolina’s reaction
Medical University of South Carolina professor and one-time CDC scientist Michael Sweat said in an Aug. 28 interview that the upheaval at the agency was troubling.
“It’s concerning that some of the most respected leaders in our premier public health institution have resigned over this issue,” he said. “Which raises questions about whether we’re following the science as closely as we could.”
In an Aug. 28 statement to Statehouse Report, Democratic U.S. Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina called the situation a threat to “Americans’ freedom to protect themselves” from disease.
“RFK Jr. and his team of hacks and quacks are dangerously out of control,” Clyburn said. “I urge the President and congressional Republicans to put a stop to this unscientific foolishness before people start dying.”
U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, who in Feb. 2023 announced that she had been “vaccine injured” by the Covid shot, did not respond to an Aug. 28 request for comment.
Meanwhile, state lawmakers split sharply over the new policy.
Conservative S.C. Rep. Jordan Pace, R-Berkeley — who’s called for mRNA-based Covid vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna to be pulled off the market until long-term safety data is available — called the decision to restrict access “eminently reasonable,” pointing to similar policies in Denmark and Sweden.
“I’d rather get rid of them entirely,” Pace said on Aug. 28. “But this [recommendation] essentially brings us in line with what most of Northern Europe has been doing for the last four years.”
But S.C. Sen. Minority Leader Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, said the new policy would violate South Carolinians’ medical freedom, and could impose high costs on patients if insurance companies refuse to cover shots for people outside of high-risk groups.
“It should be available to any adult who wants it, with parents deciding what’s best for their children,” he said. “Restricting the vaccine is going to cause some people to become severely ill and potentially die.”
‘Talk to your doctor’
With Covid cases again on the rise in the Palmetto State, the S.C. Department of Public Health (DPH) is advising residents to talk with their medical provider about vaccine eligibility.
“The Covid vaccine remains a safe and effective way to prevent severe illness, hospitalization and death from Covid,” DPH spokesperson Casey White said in a statement. “DPH also urges people to continue using other practical proven prevention measures such as hand washing, staying home when ill, and covering your cough.”
Dr. Robert Oliverio, chief medical officer at Roper St. Francis in Charleston, reiterated the importance of talking to a doctor, particularly with so many details — including precisely what will count as a “high risk” preexisting condition — still unclear.
“We don’t know where people are going to be able to get the vaccine or who’s going to pay for it,” Oliverio said, noting that vaccines can cost hundreds of dollars when they’re not covered by insurance. “It’s a tough situation.”
A federal government panel, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), is tentatively scheduled to meet in mid-September to iron out the eligibility details. In June, Kennedy removed all 17 members of the panel and replaced them with his own appointees.
Like Oliverio, MUSC’s Sweat is waiting for details, but said he’s particularly concerned about pregnant women’s eligibility after Kennedy announced in May that the CDC would no longer recommend that they get vaccinated. Nevertheless, major American medical societies, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, continue to recommend vaccination.
“The science has shown the vaccine is beneficial and safe for pregnant women,” Sweat said. “So, like many other people in public health, I have concerns that they’re not following the evidence in that regard.”
In the end, Sweat, too, advises patients to rely on their doctor to help guide them through the intricacies of the new vaccine environment, though he worries some patients will fall through the cracks.
“It’s a complicated system,” he said. “And I do think some people who want it are going to run into trouble.”
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