‘It’s a complete mess’: How new U.S. vaccine recommendations could impact Canadians

Canadian doctors have been warning about the impact of a new U.S. policy that's slashing the number of vaccines recommended to children.

Canadian doctors have been warning about the impact of a new American policy slashing the number of vaccines recommended to children. They say the consequences could be deadly. Health law professor Tim Caulfield joined CTV Your Morning Edmonton’s Kent Morrison with his insight.

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

Kent Morrison: Can you give an overview of what exactly is happening with vaccine recommendations in the U.S.?

Tim Caulfield: I don’t think it’s over the top to say it is a complete mess. It’s a complete disaster. The R.F.K Jr. “organization” is making one science free move after another. He’s decreased the number of vaccines recommended for children, he’s attacked Hep B (HBV) vaccinations, and now it looks like they’re going after Covid vaccines.

There’s no evidence to support any of it and it creates real, real harm. In fact, we see vaccination hesitancy going up and I really think it’s just an increase in doubt mongering. It’s just creating confusion which has made it more difficult for people to make decisions. But it is having an impact on perceptions. There was a recent study done in the U.S. and they found that only thirty-two per cent of Americans think that the COVID-19 vaccine is generally safe and like 50 per cent aren’t sure. That is doubt mongering having a horrendous, horrendous impact.

Kent: What kind of myths are fueling this or what kind of misinformation is casting this doubt for people?

Tim: There’s so much misinformation about virtually every vaccine out there. The bottom line is, there’s so much research on these vaccines. They’re safe and effective. But let’s zero in on the COVID-19 vaccine just for a moment. The kind of myths that you’re seeing is that it causes turbo cancer, it increases sudden death, it has an impact on fertility, and there’s no evidence to support any of this. The big one I think, (this one is really being pushed by R.F.K Jr.) that somehow the vaccine hasn’t been studied? Like the idea of safety is a new idea. That’s so, so, so wrong.

There is a very large and robust body of evidence using diverse methods that tells us these vaccines are safe. There was a big study out of France with over 20 million people involved. Yes, it’s an observational study, but the data is still really impressive. They found those who got the COVID-19 vaccine, that vaccinated people consistently had lower risk of all death. Yes, we have to be careful not to over interpret this, but if there was something seriously wrong with the COVID-19vaccine, I promise we would know. We would know all the data points in the exact opposite direction.

In fact, we know that you get improved pregnancy outcomes, that was from a very recent study from UBC (University of British Columbia), even other studies have found it. You get a decrease in hospitalization. That’s a very good thing if you take the COVID-19 vaccine, especially with our stress system. And yes, studies found it decreases stress. Study after study after study shows this. The noise that’s coming out of the U.S. is creating confusion and hesitancy, and that is creating real problems.

Kent: Why should this matter to Canadians?

Tim: It does matter to Canadians. The research tells us that this confusion is having an impact on perceptions here in Canada. All you need to do is create a degree of hesitancy, a degree of doubt, a degree of confusion, and you’ve got problems. The word “confusion,” I think that summarizes what’s going on with R.F.K. Jr. pretty well.