To the editor: For decades, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has been a gold standard in public health, carefully vetting scientific evidence and making recommendations that have protected millions from disease.
Its members, drawn from the fields of pediatrics, epidemiology, immunology and public health, volunteered their time to uphold the highest standards of evidence-based medicine.
That all changed when the federal government abruptly dismissed many of ACIP’s long-standing experts and replaced them with individuals whose qualifications fall short and whose ideological affiliations, in some cases, are openly hostile to mainstream medical consensus. This move has rightfully sparked outrage among medical professionals and public health leaders.
When the scientific integrity of ACIP is compromised, so is the vaccine schedule pediatricians depend on to protect our patients. This isn’t a theoretical concern; it’s a direct threat to the health of children in our care. The government’s decision to dismiss ACIP’s seasoned experts and replace them with individuals whose qualifications fall short and whose ideological affiliations, in some cases, oppose established medical consensus has sparked widespread outrage across the medical and scientific communities. Lower vaccination rates aren’t just policy outcomes. They translate into more measles in exam rooms, more children hospitalized, more anxious families and, devastatingly, more lives lost to diseases we know how to prevent.
The politicization of this committee sends a message to parents that science is negotiable and that trusted institutions are no longer trustworthy. That message is both false and dangerous. The quickest way to erode vaccine confidence is to sideline scientific experts and replace them with individuals who do not reflect the values or rigor that public health demands.
This is not a partisan issue — it’s a pediatric one. As someone tasked with keeping children safe, I call on policymakers to restore ACIP’s integrity. The lives of our youngest patients may depend on it.
Dr. Everett Lamm, Lenox
The writer is a pediatrician and co-chair of the Massachusetts chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics Immunization Initiative.