#vaccination-policy

#vaccination-policy

The anti-vaccine policies of Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy have rightfully caused great distress among many parents, public health professionals and primary care physicians, given the efficacy of vaccines in preventing measles, mumps, polio, influenza, and COVID-19, among many debilitating infectious diseases. In contrast to these policies, Kennedy's apparent aim of reducing exposure to toxic pesticides, herbicides and food additives has been treated, even by some public health advocates, as a positive turn toward regulation.

"This is all about one simple decision," Osterholm said during a long interview with . "Are we going to base what we do for the health of our population on science, or are we going to go with magic smoke and mirrors? And this would be OK if it was just an academic debate. But the fact of the matter is, this is life and death."

So over the last 50 years, vaccines are estimated to have saved 154 million lives worldwide. I support vaccines. I'm a doctor. Vaccines work. Secretary Kennedy, in your confirmation hearings, you promised to uphold the highest standards for vaccines. Since then, I've grown deeply concerned. The public has seen measles outbreaks; leadership of the National Institute of Health questioning the use of mRNA vaccines; the recently confirmed director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention fired. Americans don't know who to rely on.

Florida's surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo, has announced plans to end all state vaccine mandates, including for children to attend schools, likening the mandates to slavery. Every last one of them is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery, Ladapo said at a news conference in Tampa on Wednesday. Who am I as a government or anyone else, or who am I as a man standing here now to tell you what to do with your body?

The recent upheaval in vaccine policy, with the firing of CDC's ACIP members by Health Secretary Kennedy, marks a significant shift in America’s vaccination landscape.