AFV’s Statement on Federal Executive Order on Vaccines
Today’s executive order is the latest and most alarming example of an anti-vaccine agenda being elevated into federal policy.
The misinformation Americans heard from the Oval Office today was not new. Claims that children receive too many vaccines, that combination vaccines are suspect, and that separating vaccines into additional shots and medical visits will make them safer have circulated for years in anti-vaccine circles. What is new—and deeply dangerous—is seeing those claims used to justify changes to national vaccine policy.
This agenda threatens to make vaccination more confusing and more difficult for families, undermine confidence in vaccines, and pressure states to weaken the policies that protect children and communities from preventable disease.
That is especially reckless at a time when vaccination rates are falling and the United States is experiencing its worst measles outbreak in more than 30 years. We should be removing barriers to vaccination and strengthening the protections that prevent outbreaks—not manufacturing doubt about vaccines that have safely protected generations of American children.
States should not be pressured to abandon strong childhood vaccine policies in service of a federal anti-vaccine agenda. Parents, educators, healthcare professionals, and state leaders know what is at stake when vaccination rates fall, and they should be able to protect their schools and communities without Washington pushing them toward weaker standards.
American Families for Vaccines is calling on families across the country to contact their state lawmakers now and urge them to stand firm. Tell them to protect strong childhood vaccine policies, preserve access to lifesaving vaccines, and reject federal efforts to weaken the protections that keep preventable diseases out of our schools and communities.
Anti-vaccine misinformation does not become sound policy simply because it is issued from the federal government. Our children deserve better.