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Originally published at Colorado Free Press.
More than 18,000 children, including children with neurocognitive conditions, have received vaccines while they were under anesthesia or sedation at Children’s Hospital Colorado since 2020, according to a report by independent journalist Jon Fleetwood.
Fleetwood reported Thursday that a March 2026 article in AAP News, the publication of the American Academy of Pediatrics, confirms the figure. The article, co-authored by Dr. Caroline Pasquariello of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Dr. Kim Strupp of Children’s Hospital Colorado, promotes the administration of vaccines during surgical and procedural care, he wrote. Fleetwood quoted the article as saying “additional vaccinations are administered” particularly to “children with neurocognitive conditions who are unable to tolerate vaccination without sedation.” This report follows his story a day earlier that Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia injected 2,054 children with flu vaccines under anesthesia.
The Colorado program began in October 2020. In 2021, Healio reported that the “best practice alert” for children scheduled for “elective general anesthesia” was activated, and 25 weeks later 1,063 children had been vaccinated, with “very few concerns” from families, according to Dr. Tyler Morrissey, the University of Colorado anesthesiologist who initiated the program. According to Healio, only 30 vaccinations were given in a six week period prior to the best practice alert, so the 1,063 represented an increase of roughly 3,500 percent. “No vaccine-related complications were reported,” Healio wrote.
As The High Wire noted, Children’s Hospital Colorado had administered more than 7,000 doses of vaccine to children under anesthesia between 2020 and February 2024. Fleetwood’s figure of more than 18,000 children since 2020 is more than double that number, though one figure counts doses and the other counts children.
Dr. Madhava Setty, a board-certified anesthesiologist, called the practice “stunningly irresponsible” on X, The High Wire reported. About 11 to 16% of kids who receive the flu vaccine will develop a fever, and about 1% will develop a rash, according to The High Wire, and telling a vaccine reaction from an anesthetic drug reaction is harder in a sedated child. “Vaccinating children undergoing procedures with anesthesia is malpractice,” said Dr. Peter McCullough on the platform.
In theory, interactions between anesthetics and vaccines could be problematic but in reality, major interactions appear uncommon, The High Wire reported. The Association of Pediatric Anesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland advises that elective surgery be delayed by 48 hours after an inactivated vaccine to avoid post-vaccination symptoms causing diagnostic concern during surgery, and reviews in pediatric anesthesia have acknowledged the theoretical risk of confusion but note that major interactions appear uncommon.
Additionally, as reported by The High Wire, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia touted that its program “generated >$60,000 in revenue,” and a May 2026 release from the hospital says “time constraints in the perioperative setting can limit the opportunity for detailed discussions” with hesitant parents. Another hospital, Lurie Children’s in Chicago, announced its own program of vaccinating children under anesthesia on October 19, The High Wire reported.
It is worth noting that children are not put under anesthesia for the purpose of receiving a vaccine. The shots are given as part of a scheduled procedure that already requires sedation, and parents are asked for consent, according to Healio and The High Wire. As of today, CDM has found no public response from Children’s Hospital Colorado to the reporting by independent journalist Jon Fleetwood.
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