Congresswoman Kim Schrier, M.D. (WA-08), Slams Dangerous Decision to Overhaul Childhood Vaccine Schedule

Today, Congresswoman Kim Schrier, M.D. (WA-08), the first pediatrician elected to Congress, released the following statement after the CDC announced it will overhaul the childhood vaccine schedule to recommend fewer immunizations:

As a pediatrician, I am outraged by RFK Jr.’s radical and dangerous decision to make sweeping changes to our nation’s childhood immunization schedule. Today’s decision ignores decades of extensive research in favor of medical conspiracy theories. He made this seismic move about which vaccines should or should not be recommended without any substantive input from infectious disease experts, epidemiologists, and pediatricians. In fact, RFK Jr.’s recommendations are so extreme that he did not even do this in consultation with his handpicked panel on the Advisory Committee of Immunization Practices, subverting 60-plus years of precedent in the U.S. 

“There is no rational basis for removing children’s access to safe and effective vaccines. Additionally, pediatricians already spend time talking with parents about why vaccinations are important to their children's health and well-being and answering questions, and the updated immunization schedule undermines those conversations and pediatric recommendations. 

“This decision is coming at a time when we are seeing an unprecedented rise in illnesses and deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases like measles and whooping cough, and when Republicans in Congress are gutting access to affordable healthcare. This will exacerbate the country's ongoing public health crisis and cause more children to get sick, be hospitalized, suffer, and potentially die, particularly from rotavirus, RSV, and flu. 

“Amid this dangerous decision, I will continue to do everything I can to fight for the safety and health of our nation’s children.”