A regional public health department in Idaho is no longer providing COVID-19 vaccines to residents in six counties following a limited decision by the board.
Southwest District Health appears to be the first in the country to be banned from giving COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccinations are an essential function of a public health department.
While Texas policymakers banned health departments from promoting COVID vaccines, and Florida’s surgeon general resisted advise against Against the vaccine, government agencies across the country have not outright blocked the vaccines.
“I’m not aware of anything else,” said Adriane Casalotti, head of government and public affairs for the National Association of County and City Health Officials. She said health departments have stopped offering the vaccine because of cost or low demand, but not based on “a judgment on the medical product itself.”
The six-county district along the Idaho-Oregon border includes three counties in the Boise metropolitan area. Demand for COVID vaccines in the health district has declined — from 1,601 given in 2021 to 64 so far in 2024. The same goes for other vaccines: Idaho has the highest vaccination waiver rate for children in the country, and last year the Southwest District Health ministry rushed to contain a rare measles outbreak that sickened 10 people.
Rogelio V. Solis / AP
On Oct. 22, the Department of Health board voted 4-3 in favor of the ban — despite Southwest’s chief medical officer testifying to the need for the vaccine.
“Our request to the board is that we be allowed to transport and offer these (vaccines), recognizing that we always have discussions about risks and benefits,” said Dr. Perry Jansen during the meeting. “This is not a blind approach where everyone gets a chance. This is a thoughtful approach.”
Jansen’s plea was met with more than 290 public comments, many of which called for an end to vaccine mandates or taxpayer funding of the vaccines, neither of which are happening in the district. At the meeting, many people who spoke are known nationally for going around testifying against COVID vaccines, including Dr. Peter McCullough, a Texas cardiologist who sells “contagion emergency kits,” including ivermectin And hydroxychloroquine – medications that have not been approved for the treatment of COVID-19 and can have dangerous side effects.
Board Chairman Kelly Aberasturi knew many of the voices who wanted the ban, especially from previous local protests against pandemic measures.
Aberasturi, who told The Associated Press he is skeptical of COVID-19 vaccines and national public health leaders, said at the meeting and in an interview with the AP that he supported the administration’s decision but was “disappointed ”.
He said the administration had overstepped the relationship between patients and their doctors — and potentially opened a door to blocking other vaccines or treatments.
Board members in favor of the decision argued that people can get vaccinated elsewhere, and that providing the shots was tantamount to signing off on their safety. (Some people may be reluctant to get vaccinated or boosted because of misinformation about the shots, despite evidence that they are safe and have saved millions of lives.)
The people getting vaccinated at the health department — including people without housing, people who are homebound and people in long-term care facilities or in the immigration process — had no other options, Jansen and Aberasturi said.
“I’ve been homeless my whole life, so I understand how hard it can be when you’re… trying to make ends meet and get ahead,” Aberasturi said. “This is where we need to step in and help.
“But we have some board members who have never been there, so they don’t understand what it’s like.”
State health officials have said they are “recommending people consider the COVID-19 vaccine.” Idaho Health Department spokesman AJ McWhorter declined to comment on “public health district matters” but noted that COVID-19 vaccines are still available at community health centers for people who are uninsured.
Aberasturi said he plans to ask at the next board meeting whether the health department can at least vaccinate elderly patients and residents of long-term care facilities, adding that the board is expected to care for the “health and well-being” of the residents of the neighborhood. “But I believe the way we’ve handled this is we haven’t done that due diligence.”
