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Public commenters urge vaccine informed consent; Kane County health officials cite measles outbreak and say fact sheets and VAERS reporting info are provided
Summary
Public commenters called for fuller informed consent and VAERS reporting instructions for vaccines; Kane County health leadership responded by describing measles outbreak concerns, said the county provides fact sheets and VAERS information at clinics, and proposed program deep dives to improve public data sharing.
Two public commenters at the Kane County Public Health Committee urged the county to ensure "full informed consent" for vaccines and to make information on vaccine side effects and how to report to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) readily available.
Jean Meyer, identified as a resident and registered nurse, told the committee: "We need full informed consent for our vaccines to show their side effects and also to be given information how and when to contact VAERS." Mike Meyer, a separate public commenter, said he opposed mandating vaccines for college students and warned against compulsory requirements.
County public-health executive Michael Isaacson responded with an update on the ongoing measles outbreak in Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma and stressed the county's approach to patient information and vaccine safety monitoring. Isaacson said more than 300 measles cases had been reported in that outbreak and that more than 10 percent of identified cases had required hospitalization. "The risk of the vaccine are minimal compared to to potentially what could happen," he said, urging that parents and residents receive factual context.
Isaacson said Kane County provides fact sheets and VAERS reporting instructions at immunization clinics and that the public-health department is planning a series of in-depth presentations about specific programs so board members and the public can better understand services, data collection and outreach strategies. He told the committee that in most local school districts vaccination rates remain above 90 percent but that rates have declined in some populations and that pockets of lower coverage (including homeschooled populations) can pose risk.
Committee members asked for updated vaccine-coverage data and for the department to post vaccine fact sheets online. Isaacson agreed the department will post fact sheets and provide a schedule of deeper program briefings to committee members.
