Efforts to pursue medical breakthroughs in vaccine developments might be hampered under President Donald Trump's administration following his declaration of a proposed $54 billion budget cut for federal agencies. Vaccine advocates raised some concerns about this shift over fears the new government will instead channel its focus on studies finding links between vaccine and autism.
The president has made his anti-vaccine stance clear since his campaign and has not changed tunes despite many debunking vaccine's links to autism. The president even alluded to the rise in the number of children with autism to justify a proposed $54 billion budget cut. The government could end up using that funding on studies to prove vaccine-autism links, according to Science Times
In January, environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. revealed Trump asked him to chair the Committee on Vaccine Safety. The declaration was met with indignation from pro-vaccine groups who claimed Kennedy's leadership could skew against vaccinations.
The formation of the commission, however, has not progressed forward for now and White House categorically stated it's only exploring the idea of a vaccine commission. It's a clear indication, however, of Trump's plans and policies against vaccinations.
This plan was further sealed by the fact that Trump recently assigned another anti-vaccine believer Scott Gottlieb to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as per Fierce Pharma. Trump has yet to post the head for the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the agency that regulates vaccinations in the U.S but pro-vaxxers are already anticipating big changes.
So, what do these moves from the government mean for the public? Proponents of vaccination said if the study is pursued and the commission is formed, Trump might delay administration of vaccine shots. Delaying vaccine shots could increase the risks in millions of children against virus and diseases.
A strong anti-vaccine policy might also impact health insurance coverages in the future. Companies can then deny autism disorders as a pre-existing condition, but a condition aggravated by vaccines. Essentially in the bigger scheme of things, these changes could impact years of efforts supported by countless of medically-backed researches that vaccine and autism have no direct links.
