The New Mexico Department of Health will maintain its full childhood vaccination recommendations, despite a federal executive order calling for fewer standard immunizations, according to a news release.
On Aug. 12, state health officials announced New Mexico will continue recommending 17 childhood vaccinations, rejecting a federal executive order signed by President Donald Trump that seeks to reduce the recommended list to 11 vaccines and change the standard vaccination schedule. State officials cited rising measles cases and the approaching influenza season in emphasizing the importance of continued vaccination.
“Our message remains the same: the science is clear – vaccines are safe, effective and save children’s lives,” said Dr. Miranda Durham, chief medical officer for the state health department.
Dr. Brad J. Scoggins, a San Juan Regional Medical Center pediatrician, urged families to follow the state’s vaccination schedule.
“Keep the vaccine schedule as it’s been working for decades now,” Scoggins said. “We do still see these vaccine preventable illnesses pop up from time to time. And what I always remind parents of is that the world’s a lot smaller than it used to be as far as international travel. So, if we don’t maintain our levels of vaccination, a lot of these diseases will come back.”
Scoggins warned that unvaccinated students in the classroom increase the risk of transmission, particularly for vulnerable populations.
“Sitting in a classroom next to an unvaccinated child … could spread in an unvaccinated population,” Scoggins said. He added that community-wide vaccination is vital to protect a subset of people who cannot receive immunizations due to medical conditions like cancers or rheumatic diseases, as well as individuals who do not mount immunity and newborn babies who are too young for shots.
Scoggins reassured parents that his office rarely receives complaints about vaccines beyond mild side effects, such as low-grade fevers and soreness at the injection site. He added that the clinic’s pediatricians and nurse practitioners have vaccinated their own children on schedule.
“We wouldn’t do something for other people’s kids that we wouldn’t do for our own,” Scoggins said.
New Mexico law continues to provide coverage for all recommended childhood vaccinations through Medicaid, private insurance, and the Vaccines for Children Program.
For parents who have concerns about vaccines, Scoggins recommended learning about the illnesses vaccines prevent and talking with their healthcare providers.
“Look at your sources,” Scoggins said. “See if a couple of injections in your mind outweighs what you might suffer if you got the actual infection. And I think for most people, getting the injection is the preferable.”
The Tri-City Record requested an interview with Farmington Municipal Schools’ nursing department, but Public Information Officer Robert Taboada declined to “participate” in this story and referred the Tri-City Record to the district’s written immunization policy on its website.
According to Farmington Municipal Schools’ written immunization policies on student enrollment, which align with state mandates, New Mexico schools are legally required to “maintain current immunization records for all students.”
Furthermore, district policies state that schools must “commence disenrollment proceedings for students who are unable to provide either valid satisfactory evidence of immunization compliance per state law or a current and valid immunization exemption.”
The New Mexico Department of Health allows school health offices to serve as a “public health authority” to help schools track immunization requirements. School nurses and designated health staff have limited authority to collect students’ immunization records to help protect them from vaccine-preventable diseases.
For more information, visit www.farmingtonschools.us/about-us/departments/health-wellness-and-prevention.