Idaho health department no longer allowed to give out vaccines against COVID-19 – experts say, first

A regional public health department in Idaho is no longer offering COVID-19 vaccines to residents in six counties after a narrow decision by its board.

South West District Health appears to be the first in the country to be restricted from providing vaccines for COVID-19. Vaccinations are an essential function of a public health department.

While policymakers in Texas banned health departments from promoting COVID vaccines and Florida’s surgeon general overturned the medical consensus to recommend against the vaccine, government bodies across the country have not blocked vaccines entirely.

“I’m not aware of anything else like this,” said Adriane Casalotti, chief of government and public affairs for the National Association of County and City Health Officials.

She said health departments have stopped offering the vaccine because of cost or low demand, but not based on “a judgment of the medical product itself.”

The six-county district along the Idaho-Oregon border includes three counties in the Boise metropolitan area.

Demand for COVID vaccines in the health district has fallen — with 1,601 given in 2021 to 64 so far in 2024. The same is true for other vaccines: Idaho has the highest childhood vaccination exemption rate in the nation, and last year, the Southwest County Health Department rushed to contain a rare measles outbreak that sickened 10.

On Oct. 22, the health department’s board voted 4-3 in favor of the ban — despite Southwest’s medical director testifying about the vaccine’s necessity.

“Our request to the board is that we will be able to carry and offer them (vaccines), recognizing that we always have these discussions of risks and benefits,” said Dr. Perry Jansen in the meeting. “This is not a blind, one-size-fits-all approach. This is a thoughtful approach.â€

In front of Jansen’s plea were more than 290 public comments, many calling for an end to vaccine mandates or taxpayer funding of vaccines, neither of which is happening in the district.

At the meeting, many people who spoke are nationally known for testifying against COVID vaccines, including Dr. Peter McCullough, a cardiologist from Texas who sells “emergency attachment kits” that include ivermectin and hydroxychlorine — drugs that have not been approved to treat COVID-19 and can have dangerous side effects.

Board chairwoman Kelly Aberasturi was familiar with many of the voices wanting the ban, especially from previous local protests over pandemic measures.

Aberasturi, who told The Associated Press that he is skeptical of COVID-19 vaccines and national public health leaders, said at the meeting and in an AP interview that he was supportive but “disappointed” in the board. s decision.

He said the board had overstepped the relationship between patients and their doctors — and possibly opened a door to blocking vaccines or other treatments.

Board members in favor of the decision argued that people could be vaccinated elsewhere and that giving the vaccines was equivalent to signing away their safety. (Some people may be reluctant to get vaccinated or get better because of misinformation about vaccines, despite evidence that they are safe and have saved millions of lives.)

People getting vaccinated at the health department — including homeless people, people who are homebound and those in long-term care facilities or in the immigration process — had no other options, Jansen and Aberasturi said.

“I’ve been homeless my whole life, so I understand how hard it can be when you’re… trying to get by and get by,” Aberasturi said. “This is where we have to step in and help.

“But we have some board members who have never been there, so they don’t understand what it’s like.”

State health officials have said they “recommend that people consider the COVID-19 vaccine.” Idaho health department spokesman AJ McWhorter declined to comment on “public health district business” but noted that vaccines for COVID-19 are still available. in community health centers for people who are uninsured.

Aberasturi said he plans to ask at the board’s next meeting whether the health department could at least be allowed to vaccinate elderly patients and residents of long-term care facilities, adding that the board is supposed to care about “health and welfare.” being of the inhabitants of the district. “But I believe the way we went about this thing is we didn’t do that due diligence.”