KNOXVILLE, Tenn — Right now - people in East Tennessee are worried kids will stop getting life-saving immunizations.
The reason, the Tennessee Department of Health changed its messaging about vaccines for children. It started with public messaging about the COVID-19 vaccine and has expanded to other shots kids typically get.
The new guidance from TDH says there'll be no more vaccine events at schools for shots we've all been getting for decades -- like chickenpox, polio, tetanus and even the simple flu shot.
Spanish Version: Padres comparten preocupación por decisión de TN de suspender promoción de inmunización de los niños
Parents, grandparents and educators fear what this means for the future.
"A lot of people in my generation are alive today because they got vaccinated. Not just because of that, but other people got vaccinated because it was common knowledge," said area resident Kent Minault, who was attending an environmental event Thursday outside the Knox County Health Department.
Minault fears the consequences of the state's latest move.
"To attack vaccination programs in the middle of a pandemic is basically an attack on people's lives. People are going to die because of it," he said.
In a statement to 10News TDH said Thursday "the national conversation is causing families to revaluate vaccinations in general."
Dr. Felix Chaltry, an internal medicine doctor at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, said halting outreach to the younger population about vaccines is a problem.
"That's how we knocked out, you know, polio, measles. And so this is, this is a crisis. We can't let up," Chaltry said.
Minault said the science must be trusted.
"Vaccines have eliminated a whole raft of diseases, and here we are in the middle of a pandemic, so I think it's really important for organizations like the one behind me here - the Health Department - to keep up the scientifically based information," he said.
TDH said Thursday it was "being mindful of how certain tactics could hurt progress. But at a time like this, parents and grandparents say less knowledge around these topics is bad for public health.
"The decision…especially the decision not to use schools as places where people can get vaccinated that basically means they're disrupting the processes of knowledge," Minault said.
TDH said Thursday it supports immunizations, and vaccines remain accessible in the state to children. But it said it is evaluating its marketing efforts regarding vaccines for kids.