It was only a few months ago that CNN and KCCI published a story detailing what states required parental consent for children to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Iowa’s listing led to a number of individuals reaching out to The Iowa Standard, asking if this were true. The stories published by KCCI and CNN said:
“Iowa — “It is up to each individual health care provider/health system”
However, that does not reflect Iowa law according to the Iowa Department of Public Health. Informed Choice Iowa requested CNN and KCCI publish a correction, but all of the emails and requests to CNN were returned as no longer valid. The group asked KCCI, specifically Allison Smith, to issue a public correction on its social media and website.
Neither KCCI nor CNN have responded to Informed Choice Iowa. In the email sent to KCCI, the group tells the station they met with Kelly Garcia, director of IDPH, and Garcia said:
“Certainly our state laws apply and so the providers should be utilizing consent. I think the news articles got it a little confused with the federal discussion. We have not heard of any parents that have concerns around their children being offered a vaccine without parental consent. But certainly, if they have, they should absolutely talk with legal counsel.”
Ken Sharp, the infection disease division director, added that without explicit examples of where that’s occurring, it’s hard to respond.
“But I mean, those clinics in those schools are certainly obligated to get parental consent,” he added. “And certainly under general state law that is applicable.”
The group also included a link to a map from the Kaiser Family Foundation that deemed Iowa a state requiring parental consent based on their research and how the law is written.
The original story from KCCI is no longer available on its website. However, CNN’s story is still online.
Considering the rate at which conservatives are often fact-checked and slapped with a “misinformation” or “out-of-context” label on social media, information like that shared by CNN and KCCI should be corrected publicly in an effort to ensure Iowa moms and dads actually know what is to be expected.
