A regional public health department in Idaho is no longer in service Covid-19 vaccines to residents of six counties following a narrow decision by the board.

Southwest Regional Health appears to be the first region in the country to be restricted from giving Covid-19 vaccines. Vaccination is a core function of the public health department.

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During Policymakers in Texas While health departments have been barred from promoting Covid-19 vaccines and Florida’s surgeon general went against medical consensus to recommend against the vaccine, government bodies across the country have not directly blocked the shots.

“I’m not aware of anything else like this,” said Adriane Casalotti, chief of government and public affairs for the National Association of County and City Health Officials. He said health departments have stopped offering the vaccine due to cost or low demand, but that this is not based on “the judgment of the medical product itself.”

The six-county region along the Idaho-Oregon border includes three counties in the Boise metropolitan area. Demand for COVID vaccines has decreased in the health region – from 1,601 given in 2021 to 64 so far in 2024. The same goes for other vaccines: Idaho has the highest childhood vaccine exemption rate in the country, ahead of the Southwest Region last year. The Ministry of Health rushed to contain a rare measles outbreak that sickened 10 people.

On Oct. 22, the health department’s board of directors voted 4-3 in favor of the ban, even though Southwest’s medical director testified about the need for the vaccine.

A syringe sits next to vials of the COVID-19 booster vaccine at a vaccination station in Jackson, Miss., Friday, Nov. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

At the meeting Dr. “Our request to the board is that we can transport and deliver these (vaccines), knowing that we always have these discussions about the risks and benefits,” Perry Jansen said. “This is not a blind approach where everyone will have a chance. This is a thoughtful approach.”

There were more than 290 public comments opposing Jansen’s request; many of them have called for an end to vaccine mandates or taxpayer funding of vaccines; Neither of these occur in the region. Many who spoke at the meeting cited Texas cardiologist Dr. He is known for traveling around to testify against COVID vaccines, including with Peter McCullough. including ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine — drugs that are not approved to treat COVID-19 and may have dangerous side effects.

Board President Kelly Aberasturi was familiar with many of the voices calling for the ban, particularly from previous local protests over pandemic measures.

Aberasturi, who told The Associated Press that 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 board’s decision but was “disappointed.”

He said the board oversteps the relationship between patients and their doctors and possibly opens the door to blocking other vaccines or treatments.

Board members who supported the decision argued that people could get vaccinated elsewhere and that providing the vaccines was tantamount to committing to their safety. (Some people may be reluctant to get vaccinated or get vaccinated due to misinformation about vaccines, even though there is evidence that vaccines are safe and have saved millions of lives.)

Jansen and Aberasturi said people getting vaccinated at the health department, including those without shelter, those staying at home and those in long-term care facilities or in the process of immigration, have no choice.

“I’ve been homeless my whole life, so I understand how difficult that can be when you’re trying to get by 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.”

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State health officials said they “recommend people consider the Covid-19 vaccine.” Idaho health department spokesman AJ McWhorter declined to comment on “public health district business” but noted COVID-19 vaccines are still available at community health centers for the uninsured.

Aberasturi said he plans to ask at the next board meeting whether the health department should be allowed to at least vaccinate elderly patients and residents of long-term care facilities, adding that the board should be concerned with “health and welfare.” “From area residents. “But I believe the way we’re going about this is that we’re not doing our due diligence.”