FILE - A medical assistant administers a vaccine to an infant. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO - The San Francisco Department of Public Health has issued a response to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s recent revision of the childhood vaccine schedule.
Kennedy, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, on Monday reduced the recommended number of vaccines for American children from 17 to 11. The six diseases eliminated from the vaccine schedule are hepatitis A, hepatitis B, meningococcal disease, rotavirus, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, which is the leading cause of hospitalization for infants in America.
"Childhood vaccinations have been a profound public health achievement that saves lives, including here in San Francisco, and any action that casts doubt on their proven effectiveness can do great damage to our communities’ health," San Francisco Public Health Office Dr. Susan Philip said in a press release. "It is a tragedy for any child to become seriously ill or die from an infectious disease that could have been prevented through vaccination. In San Francisco, we will continue to follow the evidence and data, and we encourage all families to stay up-to-date on all (American Academy of Pediatrics) recommended vaccines."
The San Francisco Department of Public Health will continue to align with the California Department of Public Health and the West Coast Health Alliance, which both continue to endorse the evidence-based AAP Recommended Child and Adolescent Immunization Schedule.
That schedule recommends a vaccination schedule that begins at birth and continues through age sixteen. Several of the vaccines that Kennedy removed from the schedule are applied within a child’s first few months of life.
Other new guidelines
The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday released a new set of dietary guidelines that align to Kennedy’s ‘Make America Healthy Again’ movement.
The new food guidelines revert to the pyramid shape used between 1992 and 2011, but inverts the familiar triangle. The new pyramid has whole grains at the tip of the pyramid, on the bottom, and prioritizes protein, dairy, healthy fats, vegetables and fruit at the base, which sits at the top.
"As secretary of Health and Human Services, my message is clear: Eat real food," Kennedy said at a White House press briefing announcing the changes. He called it "the most significant reset of federal nutrition policy in history."