Doctor: Refusing vaccines for migrants is cruelly stupid (opinion)

Editor’s Note: Julie Graves is an associate professor of family medicine at Georgetown University, serves as associate director of clinical services for Nurx and is adjunct faculty at the University of Texas School of Public Health. CNN — Last flu season several migrant children in US custody died of influenza, many children and adults became seriously ill with influenza, and we can expect the same this year, because the Trump administration’s policies are putting migrants and us in the US at risk of a significant influenza outbreak. Julie Graves Courtesy Julie Graves Influenza killed 80,000 Americans last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most elderly but over a hundred young children as well. And, vaccination programs aren’t “complex.” They are handled every day by small local health departments, schools, businesses, churches – registered nurses can manage these programs, and many physicians who practice in states with CBP facilities have volunteered to help care for these asylum-seekers. As Dr. Murphey pointed out to me, one of the reasons doctors are providing post-release care is because CBP refuses to allow doctors to help migrants actually in detention.