Texas physicians group is undermining federal COVID vaccine recommendations, Paxton says

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Monday accused the Texas Medical Association, the state’s leading physician organization, of skirting new federal recommendations that now state childhood COVID-19 vaccinations are no longer needed.

Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice updated its vaccine guidance and no longer recommends that all children should receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Instead, it recommends that “vaccination for COVID-19 be determined by individual decision-making.”

Shortly thereafter, the TMA sent out guidance to members, telling them to consider both the CDC’s new guidelines and those of physician professional organizations that run counter to the federal guidance, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Paxton said the move represents an “undermining” of the federal guidelines.

“It’s outrageous TMA is undermining ACIP’s new federal guidelines for COVID-19 vaccines that expand personal freedom and mitigate the medical tyranny of the Biden Administration,” Paxton said in a statement. “This decision should be reversed immediately, and I encourage every Texas physician to speak out against this brazen, flawed shift by TMA.”

TMA President Jayesh “Jay” Shah, M.D., said the organization is simply helping its membership have better conversations with patients, many of whom have questions about a change in the COVID-19 guidelines.

“TMA believes patients and physicians should make informed medical decisions together,” Shah said in a statement. “TMA supports vaccine recommendations based on peer-reviewed safety and effectiveness data so the decision by the patient and their physician to vaccinate is one built on trust and is for the well-being of the patient and community.”

The TMA acknowledged that it was “shifting course” from its longtime practice of referring physicians primarily to the CDC and ACIP after “alterations” were made to the ACIP –– referring to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s removal of all 17 members of the committee with his own appointees last June –– along with subsequent changes to immunization schedules that “represent a departure from past policies and have raised significant concerns among the medical community.”

Paxton said in his statement that he believes the move by the TMA is a “blatant attempt to undermine the science-backed ACIP recommendations and push COVID-19 vaccines on Texas kids at all costs.”

Disclosure: Texas Medical Association has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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