As a professor and a pediatrician, I split my time between teaching the next generation of pediatricians how to keep kids healthy and helping families make medical decisions for their children. I take both roles seriously.
Vaccines have always been critical to both parts of my work. I strive to ensure parents feel confident and informed about the vaccines I recommend and how they will protect their children and that my students are prepared to do the same. Because vaccines are one of the most effective tools in pediatric medicine. They are a routine part of how we prevent illness, reduce hospitalizations, and save lives. Every vaccine on the market has undergone rigorous clinical trials and safety monitoring.
And for years, pediatricians and parents could turn to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for clear and consistent guidance on vaccines and what keeps our kids healthy.
That’s all changed since 2025. Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who told the US Senate that he is not opposed to vaccines, has taken many actions that are causing pediatricians and parents to lose confidence in the department’s ability to provide straightforward, science-backed guidance, especially when it comes to vaccines.
Vaccine schedules have changed many times over the course of my 40 year career, usually in response to new research that has improved the health and safety of America’s children. In January of this year, however, Secretary Kennedy overhauled America’s recommended childhood vaccination schedule without the deliberative, scientific review that has historically guided any changes to the schedule. There was no new evidence that any of the diseases removed from the recommended list are less dangerous than they used to be, nor was there evidence of harm from the vaccines.
These arbitrary changes only cause confusion for families and erode the trust parents and providers alike had for our federal health institutions.
As a pediatrician, I fear these changes will ultimately cause a decline in vaccination rates. And that outcome is especially dangerous at a time when we are seeing previously eradicated diseases like measles spreading across the country.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that this HHS is no longer a reliable source of clear, steady public health guidance for parents and providers, and it’s not just concerned pediatricians who are sounding the alarm. Last October, six former surgeons general who served under Presidents from both parties wrote an op-ed warning the public about the dangers of his approach to vaccines.
If immunization rates fall, there will be more disease and more deaths Colorado reported 36 measles cases last year. While that might not seem like very many cases, it is six times the total number of cases our state reported from 2014 to 2024, and represents a serious threat to the health of Colorado’s children.
Letting vaccine misinformation go unchecked puts children at risk and undermines doctors’ ability to provide clear, science-based care. Now is the time for all elected officials, regardless of party, to stand up for the rigorous scientific process that has protected generations of Americans. Our children’s health should not take a backseat to partisan politics.
David Keller MD, FAAP, is a practicing pediatrician in Aurora.
