Republicans signal they will block policies requiring meningitis vaccination for 7th graders, new rules on chickenpox
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MADISON - Republicans who control the state Legislature are signaling they would block new policies put forward by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers that require seventh graders to get vaccinated against meningitis and create new rules for chickenpox vaccinations in school-age children.
It's the latest action by the state Legislature to block state health officials' efforts to mandate statewide rules aimed at lowering rates of life-threatening diseases.
In a public hearing Tuesday at the state Capitol, the leader of the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules questioned the decision-making of Wisconsin's chief medical officer Ryan Westergaard, who has been the face of the state's COVID-19 pandemic response that has been heavily criticized by Republican lawmakers.
"How can I trust you?" committee co-chairman Sen. Steve Nass, a Republican from Whitewater, said to Westergaard during the day-long hearing that often focused on the coronavirus pandemic. "Honest to God, when I see you I refer to you as Wisconsin’s Dr. Fauci."
Westergaard said he and others within the state Department of Health Services in the early weeks of the pandemic recommended rules based on the limited knowledge they had about COVID-19, which was new in 2019.
"2020 was a scary time. I don’t recall saying I anticipated the state would be shut down for more than a year but I more than likely said we could be dealing with a deadly pandemic for more than a year," he said.
Westergaard, in the first face-to-face meeting with lawmakers who have pushed back against state orders he helped inform, said his proposals — including the rule to mandate meningitis vaccines — are based on keeping as many children alive and healthy as possible. He also recounted his personal experiences, including a college classmate who died of meningitis just hours after feeling ill and another who was hospitalized for a month and had a limb amputated because of the disease.
"I imagine the depth of their grief being unfathomable … but now as a parent of teenagers I can imagine it and there’s no single thing that I dread more," Westergaard said. "We prepare so in those tragic moments when we lose someone we say, yes, we could do everything we could do."
Tuesday's hearing received public testimony regarding rules put forward by Evers' health officials to mandate students entering seventh and 12th grades get vaccine and booster shots against the brain and spinal cord disease meningitis. The committee plans to vote to block the new rules on Thursday.
The move comes after weeks of lobbying by members of a group called Wisconsin United for Freedom, which argues against vaccine requirements including during the most threatening months of the coronavirus pandemic, often citing debunked theories about their safety.
"We are fully capable of making our own decisions and running our own lives, no college degree required,” said Tara Czachor, co-founder of Wisconsin United for Freedom. “The state has messed with my kids, all our kids, enough.”
Meningitis vaccine has been recommended since 2005
Meningitis is a disease that causes swelling of the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord. It can be caused by viral or bacterial infection and, rarely, a fungal infection. Viral meningitis is more common and rarely life-threatening, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. But bacterial meningitis, though less common, can cause life-threatening complications. Vaccination can prevent several types of bacterial meningitis.
The Meningococcal vaccine is not new: It's been recommended by the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices since 2005, and its booster has been recommended since 2010, state health officials said.
The state's new requirement says kids should get the first dose of the meningitis vaccine at the beginning of 7th grade and the booster shot at the beginning of the 12th grade.
Republicans also target a chickenpox verification rule
Committee Republicans also signaled they would seek to block new rules requiring parents to show proof their children were infected with chickenpox before obtaining a waiver from the state's chickenpox vaccination requirement.
If a child has had chickenpox, they can be exempted from the requirement to get the chickenpox vaccine because they already have immunity to this highly-contagious disease.
Under the new rules, state health officials will be looking for more than just a parent's word. Families must present proof that the case was diagnosed by a qualified healthcare provider.
This proof, or proof that they are up-to-date on their varicella (chickenpox) vaccines, is required before a child can attend school or a childcare center. The first dose is usually given to kids between 12 and 15 months of age. The second is recommended between 4 to 6 years old.
Stephanie Schauer, manager of the state's immunization program and medical doctor, told reporters in a news conference that requiring students to be vaccinated against meningitis makes sense because many already are.
According to state DHS data, vaccination rates in Wisconsin's childcare centers and schools have seen a decline since the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
School immunization data from the 2021-22 school year shows 88.7% of kids met the minimum requirements for their vaccinations, down 3.2% from the year before.
More than 3% of kids were behind schedule on their vaccinations, up 0.4% from the year before.
When it comes to preventing these very contagious diseases, these seemingly small slips in vaccination rates can make a big difference. That's because it takes a high level of group immunity to keep the diseases from taking hold and spreading through populations. Measles is one such disease, Schauer said.
Vaccine waivers for medical, religious and "personal conviction" reasons remain in place in Wisconsin.
In addition to a decline in kids who are up-to-date on their shots, the state has also seen a rise in the number of kids who have personal conviction waivers for one or more vaccines during the pandemic, Schauer said.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: GOP signals it will block requiring meningitis vaccine for 7th graders
