31-03-2025
Public health experts oppose bills to restrict ability to discuss, mandate COVID-19 vaccines
A health care worker administers the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.(Photo courtesy of Executive Office of the Maryland Governor)
Several physicians and experts testified against two proposals introduced before the Health and Human Services Committee on Monday that they said would undermine public health and spread misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine.
One proposal, LD 871, would prevent the state from requiring healthcare workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19, including emergency medical services personnel. Marygrace Cimino (R-Bridgeton) introduced the bill despite the fact that in 2024 the COVID-19 vaccine was removed from the list of immunizations the state requires healthcare workers to have, based on guidance from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, although the agency continues to recommend the vaccine.
Given the current lack of a mandate, the legislation 'serves no obvious purpose,' said Dr. Sydney Sewall, a pediatrician in Waterville and representative of the Maine Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
'The motivating force appears to be anti-vaccine sentiment,' he said. 'We find it unfortunate that vaccine policy in general and COVID vaccine in particular, has devolved into a partisan issue.'
Northe Saunders, executive director for Maine Families for Vaccines, said the bill would tie the hands of future leaders and public health experts in the case of a possible new COVID variant or another surge.
'We cannot afford to ban the use of a tool that has saved millions of lives worldwide just because we're no longer in a crisis,' he said.
Another bill presented to the committee, LD 436, sponsored by Rep. John Eder (R-Waterboro), would prevent any state agency from providing informational or educational materials about the COVID-19 vaccine for children under 18. That restriction would ban health care provider networks and offices, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and the MaineCare program from sharing resources with families to help make decisions about vaccination for their children.
During the public hearing, Eder's bill was similarly critiqued by public health experts for promoting anti-vaccination rhetoric, endangering public safety and undermining trust in evidence-based healthcare.
'This bill does not address a legitimate concern,' said Jessica Shiminski, program director of the immunization program within the Maine CDC. 'Instead, it increases vaccine hesitancy and misinformation, posing a significant threat to public health. The state's efforts to increase vaccination rates are crucial in protecting the health of children in Maine, and this bill undermines those efforts.'
Eder said he introduced the bill based on questions about the efficacy of the latest COVID-19 vaccine and the diminishing seriousness of infections in recent years. He cited the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which found that only 12.8% of children and 23.1% adults got the updated 2024-25 COVID-19 vaccine. Combined with the fact that children are far less likely to fall seriously ill or face severe symptoms from COVID, Eden said the Maine CDC should stop promoting the vaccine for kids.
'American adults are abstaining, but children, babies as young as six months old, rely on informed decisions made by their parents based on information they get from us,' he said. 'For many parents like myself, it's foreboding to see the vaccine recommended atop the childhood vaccine schedule.'
The COVID-19 vaccine decreases a child's risk of hospitalization by more than 50%, according to Sewall of the American Academy of Pediatrics. While most pediatricians recommend the shot, Sewall said that when given accurate information about the low risk of serious illness in children, most parents decline. The exception is children who are immunocompromised.
'While the public health burden from COVID has greatly decreased, it still circulates and causes disease in kids,' Sewall said.
'Parents and clinicians should have access to the most up to date, scientifically based information making decisions regarding child health. Politics should not play a role in vaccine policy.'
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