AAP Statement on Protecting Access to Vaccines

In response to a post on X by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr,. AAP President Susan J. Kressly, MD, FAAP, issued the following statement:

“We are deeply concerned that Secretary Kennedy’s planned changes to the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) will be yet another example of his campaign to set aside the overwhelming weight of medical evidence and use the federal government to stoke fears about vaccines that have no basis in medicine. Time and time again, Sec. Kennedy has intervened to remove unbiased expertise, and replace it with attacks on the immunizations that protect children from serious diseases. Threatening to ‘fix’ VICP is just the latest example of a larger, ongoing effort to erode confidence in childhood vaccines and the public health infrastructure designed to keep kids safe and healthy.”

###

The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults.