In September, the federal committee that makes vaccine recommendations voted to change the childhood immunization schedule. That in itself isn’t unusual; past committees have done so over the years. But this time, careful deliberations and evidence-based decisions, hallmarks of past meetings, were absent.
The committee removed the option for a combination vaccine as the first dose to protect against measles, mumps, rubella and varicella, better known as chicken pox. Now, 12- to 15-month-olds would get the chicken pox shot separately. The reason for the vote: a rare chance a child might have a febrile seizure, a usually harmless side effect that was already known.
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