Vaccines save lives and are essential tools to keep us healthy. High vaccination coverage rates keep us and our communities protected from dangerous infectious diseases.
Unfortunately, recent federal actions do not support vaccine confidence and high uptake. In January, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) made sweeping changes to the childhood and adolescent immunization schedule. These changes threaten our communities' protection from vaccine-preventable diseases.
Now, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)—the committee that traditionally makes recommendations for CDC's immunization schedule—is scheduled to meet. It is expected the committee will continue to use its role to de-normalize vaccination and call into question the safety and efficacy of well-studied and well-monitored lifesaving immunizations.
All of this is happening at a time when our country is experiencing record-breaking measles outbreaks and a severe influenza season. Contact Congress today to tell your Representative and Senators to conduct oversight of HHS' continued actions against vaccines and the immunization schedule.
Dear {Representative/Senator},
I write to you as a constituent, a community member, a vaccine advocate, and a caregiver of loved ones. I am deeply concerned by the continued actions taken by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to de-normalize vaccination. These actions include recent unscientific and confusing changes to the childhood and adolescent immunization schedule, and the upcoming Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) meeting where it is expected the committee will continue to use its role to question vaccine safety and efficacy. I urge you to conduct oversight of these ongoing actions and to hold HHS accountable for keeping our communities protected against vaccine-preventable diseases.
These continued actions of HHS leaders—like stating that less vaccination would be a good thing or calling into question the value of immunizations against polio—are dangerous. They come at a time when our nation is facing a severe influenza season and record-breaking measles outbreaks. Last year, over 2,200 Americans were infected with measles. This is the most cases in a single year in over three decades.
For more than 30 years, measles cases were controlled because of vaccines. Now, low vaccination rates risk our communities' health and well-being. Lower vaccination rates are not a good thing. Fewer children getting vaccinated means more outbreaks, which are expensive for jurisdictions to manage. Fewer vaccinated children mean more missed days of school and work, and lower vaccination rates will mean more families must deal with the unbearable loss of a child.
Our health leaders should be focused on ensuring all people have access to accurate information about the benefits and value of immunization, not using health agencies' platforms to promote ideology. As your constituent, I urge you to take action to keep my family and our community safe. Please conduct oversight of the recently changed immunization schedule and HHS' continued actions against vaccines, and hold HHS accountable for these actions.
Sincerely,
[Your name here]
