For decades, Americans have looked to the federal government for advice on which vaccines their children should get and when. A panel of independent scientists with diverse expertise provided those recommendations following longstanding public health principles, usually after months or even years of careful review of the evidence.
…[I]n a move extraordinary for its disregard for this process, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and political appointees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention delivered a new vaccine schedule that shrank the number of diseases American children would be protected against by one-third.
The changes appear to be limited in their impact, at least in the short term.
Still, Mr. Kennedy and his allies appear to be laying the groundwork for an entirely new approach to immunization, one that prizes individual autonomy and seeks to limit vaccines based on personal preference rather than scientific expertise and established benefit.
Related on the SLP
“I don’t think this will be the last of the big changes we’re going to see,” said Dr. Anne Zink, an emergency room physician … in Palmer, Alaska, and a former health officer for the state.
