{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Radio Chatskill","title":"Health Officials Warn CDC Vaccine Changes Could Fuel Confusion, Threaten Child Health","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":958,"description":"Local public health leaders are raising alarms after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released revised guidance that scales back routine childhood vaccinations, a move they say could confuse parents and weaken decades of disease prevention.The updated guidance reduces the number of vaccines recommended for infants and children and shifts several — including RSV, influenza, hepatitis A and hepatitis B — to shared decision-making between parents and clinicians.“At this point, we don’t really know what the full implications of this announcement are in general, let alone in New York,” said Dr. Eve Walter, Ulster County Public Health Director. She worries the revised guidance may unintentionally signal that vaccines are unsafe.“It suggests that these are potentially harmful, which is inaccurate,” Walter said. “That’s not ever stated in the revised guidelines, but in the mind of your average person, why wouldn’t they think that?”Walter emphasized that the vaccines affected by the changes “have been proven to be extremely safe and extremely important in reducing hospitalizations and deaths.”New York State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said in a statement Tuesday,  “Despite changes announced at the federal level, New York State’s long-standing, childhood vaccine requirements remain the same,” “There was no new science, safety data or discovery presented by the federal government. New Yorkers can continue to be confident that vaccines offer the best protection from preventable childhood diseases.”McDonald said the changes do not affect vaccine access, insurance coverage, liability protections, or the federal Vaccines for Children program.State health officials struck a similar tone last month after a federal vaccine advisory committee voted to end the longstanding recommendation that all U.S. newborns receive the hepatitis B vaccine at birth. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said on \"X\" that U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F....","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/q7XXsnSXT_u4mZLCn3chUorwDmUD_kWiB272D6emB18/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS80N2Uy/OGY5MWUwZThkYTEw/NDVkZGM2ZGZkZDIw/ZjliOS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}