As president of the Texas
Pediatrics Society, the Texas
Chapter of the American Academy
of Pediatrics, I am looking
forward to advocating on many issues of
importance to children, to their families,
and to pediatricians. A summary of our
legislative priorities can be found here
online at txpeds.org/2021-legislativesession.
I want to focus on one of these priorities:
implementing best practice immunization
policy. We know that vaccinations are
32 DALLAS MEDICAL JOURNAL • February 2021
important, safe, and effective. They defend
our families, our community, and our
economy from infectious disease. Even
before the COVID-19 pandemic illustrated
what could happen when a vaccine does
not exist to protect against a deadly infectious
disease, Texas was at risk for the
emergence of other vaccine-preventable
illnesses due to a significant increase in
nonmedical school vaccine exemptions
over the last decade. Yet research shows
that a supermajority of Texans across
all parties, genders, and ages support
mandatory school vaccination. At the same
time, school campuses are inconsistently
enforcing the “no shots, no school” law,
which states that a school must exclude
students from attendance if they are missing
one or more required vaccinations and
do not receive them in the specified time
frame.
We have seen interruptions in well-child
care due to stay at home orders and fear
of accessing medical care during the
COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout much
of 2020, the number of vaccines ordered
and administered through the Texas Vaccines
for Children (TVFC) - a program that
provides vaccines to roughly half of Texas
children - decreased as much as 40% compared
to the year before. This decrease is
corroborated by state and national data
and the individual experiences of pediatricians
and family physicians across our
state. On September 23, 2020, the Centers
for Medicaid and Medicare Services
(CMS) issued a call to action1 following
the drastic decline in care for children in
Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance
Program (CHIP) due to the pandemic. From
March to May nationwide, 22% fewer vaccinations
were provided to children up to
age 2.
The latest release of the Texas Depart-
LEGISLATIVE PREVIEW
TEXAS PEDIATRICS SOCIETY 2021 Legislative
Priorities By Dr. Seth Kaplan, President,
Texas Pediatrics Society
/swdcmi.com
