SACRAMENTO – Citing a shortage of flu vaccines for young children, the California Department of Health and Human Services said yesterday it would make an exception to a new law requiring mercury-free vaccines.
A law banning a mercury-based preservative called thimerosal from vaccines given to pregnant women and children younger than 3 took effect this year, backed by lobbying from public health groups who say mercury is linked to autism.
But only one manufacturer, Sanofi Pasteur, produces the vaccine that complies with California's law, and the company has experienced a delay in shipments this year, leading physicians from four medical groups to appeal for a temporary waiver of the thimerosal ban.
Yesterday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kim Belshe agreed to suspend the requirement for six weeks, which she said should be long enough to resolve the distribution problems.
The ban, written by Assemblywoman Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, and signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2004, can be suspended in times of short supply.
Belshe said the administration is still committed to ensuring mercury-free vaccines.
“However, the health threat that seasonal influenza presents is severe and all too often deadly,” she said. “We feel it is important to offer this short-term alternative.”
She noted the appeal by the American Academy of Pediatrics, California Medical Association, California Academy of Family Physicians and Kaiser Permanente.
“These groups, representing physicians who care for children, have well-founded concerns that some parents do not have the option to delay vaccination because of personal barriers, like access to transportation,” Belshe said.
Online: For more information go to www.dhs.ca.gov/
