Opinion: AAP president: How pediatricians are navigating federal leaders’ fearmongering on vaccines

Andrew D. Racine, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, writes that while every parent wants the best for their child, the flood of unreliable information has made this harder. He specifically calls out a White House event that promoted misleading, false, and long-disproven claims about vaccines, which he says is stoking fears and exploiting parents' desire to keep children safe.

Pediatricians are responding by reassuring families that no new research warrants changes to the childhood immunization schedule, and that vaccines remain available and covered by insurance. They also address specific myths: dozens of studies show no link between vaccines and autism, and the original claim stemmed from a fraudulent retracted report. On the MMR vaccine, they explain that separating it into three shots has no medical basis and would take years to become available, while measles cases rise.

Racine also clarifies why U.S. recommendations differ from other countries, citing Japan's non-routine mumps vaccine leading to large outbreaks, and Denmark's non-routine rotavirus vaccination causing about 1,200 hospitalizations annually. He concludes that parents and children deserve better than fearmongering, and that pediatricians will continue to provide clear, calm, evidence-based guidance.