New KFF data show trust in the CDC as a source of reliable vaccine information is now at a historic low following a recent overhaul to childhood vaccine recommendations. That matters because federal health leaders have explicitly justified their policy changes as necessary to restore public trust.🧵

Our article is out today in @statnews.com. Do pediatricians get rich from vaccines? We followed the money. Short answer: ABSOLUTELY NOT. This dangerously misleading claim just won’t die. www.statnews.com/2026/01/29/p...

Preventing more diseases is a success, not a failure. This shouldn’t be controversial. open.substack.com/pub/communit... #Vaccines ##PreventDisease

New 📰 The U.S. is being called a vaccine “outlier.” But why is that assumed to be bad? Also: changes to a key federal advisory commission, flu policy during a severe season, and ethics concerns in a halted hepatitis B study in Africa. Read here: 🔗 communityimmunity.substack.com/p/the-proble...

States, health organizations reject new CDC vaccine guidance A growing number of states are pushing back against sweeping changes to the US childhood vaccine schedule. www.cidrap.umn.edu/p...

Read my @medpagetoday.com op-ed on recent U.S. vaccine policy changes framed as “restoring trust.” The gap between that idea and reality is striking. Trust comes from clarity, evidence, and consistency. www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/seco... #Vaccines #PublicHealth @gfriedma.bsky.social

TOMORROW! Join us for an informational webinar about the D&I Science Graduate Certificate Program. Register at ucdenverdata.formstack.com/forms/dicert... #ImpSci #CUAnschutz

🚨 The U.S. childhood vaccine schedule is being rewritten. The New York Times reports that RFK Jr./HHS/CDC are shifting routine vaccines into “individual decision-making,” cutting routine protection from 17 diseases to 11. 🔗 www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/h...

Writing publicly and being in the spotlight isn’t my default setting. 📰 This week’s Community Immunity is a reflection on why I write publicly about vaccines, evidence, and trust, and what it takes to sustain this work.

The nearly 80-year-old law that could hamper RFK Jr.’s drive to remake vaccine schedule Legal experts say Kennedy needs to follow established legal procedures to prevent any policy changes from being dismissed by a judge. www.cidrap.umn.edu/c... Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr cc

@drhigginsmd.bsky.social: "many clinics and pediatricians will simply say they don’t recommend the Denmark schedule, which will worsen parental confusion. School vaccination requirements are set by state laws, and most require some of the vaccines that aren’t on the Denmark schedule" 🎁

National vaccine schedules cannot be copy-pasted. This is dangerous vaccine policy. The confusion and disruption would be immediate. As I told WaPo, "I have never been more concerned about the future of vaccines and children’s health than I am now.” 1/6🧵 www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/h...

Petty infantile vengeance vs objective science? Are we surprised MAGA/MAHA has embraced science-free rage? So on-brand. Still unbelievable. American Academy of Pediatrics loses HHS funding after criticizing RFK Jr. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/... cc @ameracadpeds.bsky.social

“Shared decision-making” is being invoked more and more in federal vaccine guidance. That doesn’t mean everyone is using it the same way. Today’s Community Immunity looks at what shared decision-making is—and what it isn’t—especially when it comes to vaccine policy.

If there’s a misperception that vaccine hesitancy is extremely high, it creates real risk at the policy and clinician level. My thoughts on this are in Medical Economics. #VaccineConfidence #PublicHealth #HealthPolicy www.medicaleconomics.com/shorts/risk-...

Pregnant women vaccinated against COVID-19 less likely to be hospitalized or deliver prematurely, new data show. The study confirms the benefits of the vaccines, even as the Trump administration raises doubts about their safety. www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/pre...

Racially charged language on mothers, babies taints vaccine advisory meeting by @LizSzabo Throughout the 2-day meeting, speakers and ACIP members singled out immigrants and people from Asia as potential sources of hepatitis B infection www.cidrap.umn.edu/c...

The CDC’s ACIP vaccine meeting this week was flooded with rhetoric posing as science. Confidence ≠ evidence. As I told WaPo: misinformation wrapped in scientific authority is the most dangerous kind. Our kids deserve better.

ACIP’s two-day meeting was a chaotic circus of misinformation, distortion, and people speaking with confidence far beyond their expertise. One thought kept coming back to me: our kids deserve better. Do not come between a pediatrician and our patients’ health. We are fiercely devoted to them.

“Vaccinating babies for hepatitis B at birth remains one of the clearest, most evidence-based ways to keep American children free of this lifelong, deadly infection.” - @drhigginsmd.bsky.social, preventive medicine specialist, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

9/ The vaccine schedule is only one item on ACIP’s agenda this week. This breaks it all down👉 evicollective.org/2025-dec-acip-prebunk Love, @drhigginsmd.bsky.social Annicka Evans, PhD @sciencewhizliz.bsky.social @unbiasedscipod.bsky.social @enirenberg.bsky.social @ylepidemiologist.bsky.social

1/ Tomorrow, #ACIP —the external advisory committee that guides U.S. vaccine policy—will meet for two days. Thursday’s agenda will focus on Hepatitis B (Hep B). We’re expecting to hear a few falsehoods to start circulating along with some unsupported safety concerns. Here’s what you should know 👇

11/ HBV is only one item on ACIP’s meeting agenda this week. This resource breaks it all down👉 evicollective.org/2025-dec-acip-prebunk Love, Annicka Evans, PhD @drhigginsmd.bsky.social @enirenberg.bsky.social @sciencewhizliz.bsky.social @unbiasedscipod.bsky.social @ylepidemiologist.bsky.social

ACIP is again considering delaying the hepatitis B birth dose, with no new evidence to support it. New modeling shows that hundreds of preventable newborn infections could occur if the birth dose is removed. Today’s Substack: communityimmunity.substack.com/p/the-cost-o... #vaccines #publichealth

CDC’s acting director recently claimed that “informed consent is back” for vaccines—implying it ever disappeared. It didn’t. The real concern isn’t a lack of informed consent, but the growing effort to twist it into fear, confusion, and "misinformed refusal". open.substack.com/pub/communit...

Some genuinely good news! A new study found the monoclonal antibody nirsevimab cut ICU admissions and respiratory failure by ~80% in infants during their first RSV season. This is what progress looks like. These tools are working! #RSV #PublicHealth #Pediatrics www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes...

🚨 Today’s CDC update to its Autism and Vaccines page is deeply troubling. It takes a well-studied question with decades of consistent evidence and reframes it as uncertain—using a dangerous mix of misrepresentation and false equivalence. www.cdc.gov/vaccine-safe...

Pew’s latest vaccine survey drew headlines like “GOP support slips”. I’ve never had a parent refuse due to party affiliation. These decisions are driven, among other things, by social norms, media, and values—not party labels. Framing it politically only risks making it political. bit.ly/482gijR

📰New this week! Why vaccine policy debates aren’t just political theater—they show up in exam rooms, shaping what parents hear and how children are protected. open.substack.com/pub/communit...

PAHO meets this week to decide if we’ve lost measles elimination status. I warned in this interview that we’re marching toward that threshold—and getting this close signals widening vaccination gaps and eroding public health capacity. 🔗 www.scientificamerican.com/article/meas... #Vaccines #Measles

Even small drops in vaccination rates can open the door to outbreaks. In my Q&A with The Conversation, I explain why school vaccine requirements matter, how we monitor vaccine safety, and what’s behind recent dips in coverage. theconversation.com/even-small-d... #VaccinesWork #PublicHealth

Even small drops in vaccination rates can fuel measles outbreaks, says pediatrician @drhigginsmd.bsky.social. His message to parents: stay up to date and talk to your doctor to get more information – not social media. buff.ly/kTcrQWq #vaccineswork 🩺 🧪

Today, HHS declared “informed consent is back” for vaccines. It never left. Doctors, nurses, and other professionals do this every day. Real informed consent means clear, reliable info—not hyped risks or downplayed benefits. Anything else is misinformed consent. www.npr.org/2025/10/06/n...

🚨 Delays in HHS leadership approving COVID-19 vaccines for the Vaccines For Children program mean millions of kids can’t get them. VFC covers ~half of U.S. children, including medically complex kids at highest risk. #ChildHealth #VaccineAccess www.statnews.com/2025/09/30/c...

📰 The hepatitis B vaccine has nearly eliminated childhood infections and prevents liver cancer. So why is it under attack? I break it down in this week’s Community Immunity. Read 👉 communityimmunity.substack.com/p/the-fight-... #VaccinesWork #HepatitisB #PublicHealth #SciComm

I joined Why Should I Trust You? to talk about White House headlines linking Tylenol, vaccines & autism. Honest, real conversation with host Brinda Adhikari, co-hosts & a mom of an autistic child expecting another baby. 🎧 Listen: open.spotify.com/episode/7MZR... @whyshoulditrustyou.bsky.social

📰 New in Community Immunity! Last week’s ACIP meeting ran into a stubborn reality: most Americans—Democrats, Republicans, even President Trump—like vaccines. That may have tempered rumored sweeping moves to limit access. communityimmunity.substack.com/p/running-in...

11/ The Covid vaccine is only one of the vaccines ACIP will discuss this week. This resource breaks it all down👉 evicollective.org/acip-prebunk-brief-2025-09-25 Love, @drhigginsmd.bsky.social Annicka Evans, PhD @sciencewhizliz.bsky.social @unbiasedscipod.bsky.social @ylepidemiologist.bsky.social

12/ HBV is only one of the vaccines ACIP is voting on this week. This resource breaks it all down👉 evicollective.org/acip-prebunk-brief-2025-09-25 Love, @drhigginsmd.bsky.social Annicka Evans, PhD @sciencewhizliz.bsky.social @unbiasedscipod.bsky.social @ylepidemiologist.bsky.social

Changes at the federal level have caused confusion around annual COVID vaccinations, but Colorado has taken actions to try to maintain access to the shots. @drhigginsmd.bsky.social helps to answer some common questions: https://coloradosun.com/2025/09/08/covid-vaccine-what-to-know-fda-kennedy/

12/ MMRV is only one of the vaccines ACIP is voting on this week. This resource breaks it all down👉 evicollective.org/acip-prebunk-brief-2025-09-25 Love, @drhigginsmd.bsky.social Annicka Evans, PhD @sciencewhizliz.bsky.social @unbiasedscipod.bsky.social @ylepidemiologist.bsky.social

📣Colorado continues taking action to protect the ability to choose vaccination as essential prevention. As I told NPR this week, our state has been proactive—passing two bills last spring to safeguard vaccine access even as federal guidance shifts.🧵 NPR coverage: www.npr.org/sections/sho...

📰 In my latest Community Immunity newsletter, I break down what VAERS is and how its data are often misinterpreted or misused. Timely reading as VAERS reports are expected to take center stage at next week’s ACIP meeting. Read here: open.substack.com/pub/communit...

Too many people still have to fight for the chance to choose COVID-19 vaccination. I told The Washington Post that while I encourage parents and patients to advocate for themselves, no one should have to keep pushing for routine vaccines—or have access depend on their ZIP code. wapo.st/4poiGto

Can you get a COVID vaccine in Colorado this year? It’s complicated. I spoke with the Colorado Sun about what’s happening and why vaccine access is so uncertain. Reporter John Ingold breaks it down for Coloradans. coloradosun.com/2025/09/08/c... @coloradosun.com #VaccineAccess #ColoradoHealth

New data from a The Washington Post–KFF parent survey: 81% of U.S. parents support public schools requiring measles and polio vaccines—including 82% of Florida parents and 73% of MAGA Republicans! There is ipartisan support for vaccines! #VaccinesWork #HealthyKids thehill.com/policy/healt...

Republican pollsters confirmed what the evidence has shown for years: Strong bipartisan support for routine vaccines! Conflating COVID-19 skepticism with attitudes toward all vaccines is misleading and dangerous. #USAnotRFK #VaccinesSaveLives #BipartisanSupport www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

A pediatrician looks at Florida's move to end school vaccinations and how no one but America's far right really approves of ending such requirements.