Ali Rogin:
Amna, many experts are calling the move unprecedented. Typically, the CDC makes recommendations about who should be vaccinated and when based on advice from an advisory committee of experts. But it’s unclear if they were consulted before the announcement.
Joining us to discuss the potential impact of this announcement and wider concerns from public health experts is Dr. Richard Besser, former acting director of the CDC and now CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
And we should note, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is a funder of the “News Hour.”
Dr. Besser, thank you so much for being here.
I want to take these two categories in turn. First, pregnant women, there are many public health experts who are expressing concern that they should absolutely still be getting the vaccine to protect not just themselves, but also their infants. What are the concerns there?
Dr. Richard Besser, Former Acting Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Yes, well, thanks for having me on, Ali.
It’s very concerning. I’m a general pediatrician. I practiced for more than 30 years. And one of the wonderful things about vaccinations in pregnant women is, it not only protects them, but it provides protective factors to their babies, who often can’t get vaccinated against many infectious diseases during that first year of life.
And so those factors will not be coming across to the babies of moms who are now going to be denied access to this vaccine. And the American College of OB-GYN — this is the body of experts who are in — who are obstetricians and gynecologists — raised concerns about this recommendation.
And a big concern for me is that the announcement didn’t provide the thought behind it. It didn’t provide the data. And that’s what we’re losing, is that ability to really understand the decision.
