SEE BELOW TO TELL YOUR LEGISLATOR WHAT YOU THINK.

By GARRY RAYNO, Distant Dome

“Elections have consequences,” is an old adage and the last general election may be one of the most consequential in many years, both in New Hampshire and nationally.

The election firmly placed Republicans in control in Washington D.C. and New Hampshire and that has brought about changes.

For example, the agency heads nominated by the president do not fit the usual profile of experience in the field and proven leadership qualities, but instead the one criterium for most of Trump’s picks is that they are loyal to him, unlike some of his choices during his first term in office.

Picking people loyal to you may be a good idea if you want to overthrow the current structure, but not a good idea if you want solid advice from people who know more about the work of an agency than you do.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is not someone many people would believe is a solid choice as secretary of Health and Human Services, the person in charge of the nation’s health.

While his pedigree may be upper-class, he is more known for bizarre behavior and his anti-vaccine stance believing they are tied to autism, when scientifically no link has been found. He also declared that certain vaccines have never worked to the horror of physicians.

Kennedy says vaccines are a personal choice which would be fine if one person’s personal choice does not impact dozens of people who come in contact with that person, then a discussion of the greater public good is in order.

Those personal decisions about vaccines are manifested in the measles outbreak in Texas and expanded into a neighboring county in New Mexico.

Of the 481 infections in Texas, 97 percent are unvaccinated with the remaining 3 percent with unknown status and the great majority are children five to 17 years old, which means their parents made the vaccine choices for them.

New Mexico has had 41 cases and there have been deaths in both states, the first since 2015.

In all of 2024, there were 285 cases of measles across the country so this year in three months the total has almost doubled.

Kennedy did advise people to receive the measles vaccine, but only after he touted some alternative treatments.

His agency also cancelled a Federal Drug Administration advisory committee meeting in February to set the influenza strains to be included in this fall’s flu shot so manufacturers can begin ramping up.

Without input, the FDA made the decision on its own last month making the flu shot nearly identical to this year’s formula, which has been a record-breaking flu season.

Flu is more deadly to old people and children and the consequences next year may be even more severe for the most vulnerable.

And there does not appear to be much urgency from the federal government to update the COVID-19 vaccinations for the next surge, which if it holds true to its pattern, will begin in summer and peak just after the holiday season.

The most recent vaccine updates are aimed at the omicron strain which medical professionals say is gone now and only in subvariant strains remain.

Moderna told investors it is working on its update to the COVID vaccine and expects preliminary approval by the FDA by May 31, but that agency has just slowed down final approval for Novavax’s new protein COVID vaccination, or the more traditional variety, rather than the mRNA models of Moderna and Pfizer.

And some health officials have been underwhelmed by the administration’s response to the bird flu which has claimed two lives of people who work directly with flocks.

The bird flu has spread to all 50 states including New Hampshire which has three infestations in three counties, Belknap, Merrimack and Rockingham, according to a Centers for Disease Control website, with the largest being in Merrimack and the smallest in Belknap.

Many people remember how ill-prepared the first Trump administration was for the COVID-19 pandemic.

New Hampshire has not been immune from the anti-vaccine movement.

Five bills in the legislature this session deal with vaccinations, from seizing control of decision-making from the Department of Health and Human Services of the vaccinations children need to attend school to ending the New Hampshire Vaccine Association.

The association was established more than two decades ago to bulk purchase vaccines with the goal of making vaccines free for everyone, particularly low-income families who may not be able to afford them for their children.

The association is able to receive the federal 30 percent discount which makes them cheaper than what doctors or health care organizations may purchase them for, and with insurance companies contributing because of the reduced cost, no one pays out of pocket to be vaccinated.

But the association came under attack this session in House Bill 524 which would repeal the association sponsored by Rep. Michael Granger, R-Milton Mills.

A member of the NH Liberty Alliance, or you could say, Free State Project, Granger’s bill was backed by noted anti-vaccine organizations and individuals although they all claimed it was not an anti-vaccine bill.

The bill initially passed the House on a 189-181 vote but was referred to the Ways and Means Committee which retained the bill, and it will come back to the House next year.

The House did approve House Bill 357, which would remove the HHS’s authority to determine by rules which vaccines children need to attend schools, and instead, under the bill, legislators will determine the needed vaccines.

That ought to give everyone pause as lawmakers believe they are better able to make the determination than medical professionals.

The bill passed on a 195-174 vote and is now in the Senate.

House Bill 378 is also in the Senate which does away with the requirement parents fill out a form saying their children are not vaccinated due to religious reasons, to be replaced by a simple statement saying the same thing.

That bill passed on a 206-169 vote.

House Bill 679 also is before the Senate after passing on a 204-165 vote and would require a vaccine not be added to the children’s vaccine list if a clinical trial does not prove it is effective in stopping the transmission of any disease.

The House killed House Bill 664, which would have required the vaccine be tested in a clinical trial with an inert placebo.

Usually when you think about the consequences of elections you do not think about your personal health and how it could be impacted, but all that has changed here and in Washington.

It is no longer enough to allow someone to decide for him or herself whether to be vaccinated against disease that is preventable, but the unvaccinated want to prohibit everyone else from being vaccinated.

Who remembers the protests at the Executive Council meetings several years ago to stop all state distribution of the COVID vaccination, particularly to the elderly?

This is not individual rights, it is tyranny by those at war with science.

Garry Rayno may be reached at garry.rayno@yahoo.com.

Click the links below to tell your lawmakers what you think of various bills.

HOUSE
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SENATE

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