Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton is voicing concern over possible vaccine mandates for school children following the CDC’s addition of the COVID-19 jab to the recommended pediatric schedule. First reported on Fox, Cotton contacted Comptroller General Gene Dodaro Tuesday, demanding a Government Accountability Office (GAO) evaluation of the CDC’s updated immunization schedule for children and adolescents.
The CDC added the COVID-19 vaccine to the recommended schedule in February, including a 2- or 3-dose series for children starting at six months old. Cotton called the amendment to the CDC schedule “irresponsible” and cautioned the modification could be used to require the COVID-19 shots to enter the school system.
“The CDC’s modification of the vaccine schedule is irresponsible given the low mortality rates of adolescents with COVID-19 and the unknown long-term side effects of the vaccine,” Cotton said.
“I fear their recommendation [will] be used to justify a vaccine mandate in schools across the country,” Cotton continued. “The GAO’s ruling will help put every member of Congress on record about the COVID-19 vaccine requirement for children.”
Chuck Young, a spokesperson for GAO, acknowledged receipt of Cotton’s letter and that from “here it goes through a regular review process before any decisions are made.”
“This usually takes a week or so,” he said.
Curiously, the addition of the COVID-19 vaccine to the recommended pediatric schedule came days before the World Health Organization announced that coronavirus shots are no longer necessarily needed for healthy children and teenagers, deeming the age group from six months to 17 years as low priority.
The coronavirus vaccine addition to the CDC’s schedule sends the total amount of childhood immunizations (from birth to age 18) to over 70 doses, and also gives each individual state the power to require COVID-19 shots for both public and private schooling, as cautioned by Senator Cotton.
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