Regarding Ashish K. Jha’s June 18 op-ed, “How to stop Kennedy’s vaccine sabotage”: As pediatricians, we have watched in horror as the critically important Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices was systematically dismantled from the inside with the firing of all its members. This move jeopardizes vaccine access for our families, makes truly informed immunization decisions more difficult and ultimately weakens public health nationwide. Fortunately, Colorado is prepared, and other states could take a lesson from its example.

In his op-ed, Jha urged states to ensure vaccine access through legislatures and insurance regulators requiring insurers to cover all vaccines endorsed by medical societies or state advisory boards. Colorado has already shown this can be done.

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Foreseeing political and ideological overreach on vaccines, pediatricians partnered with lawmakers and other state leaders to help pass two groundbreaking bills in Colorado to ensure vaccine recommendations and insurance coverage don’t rely solely on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention but instead incorporate guidance from other trusted experts and medical societies.

The first, Colorado SB25-196, safeguards state-regulated insurance coverage for preventive health services, including vaccines. If federal recommending bodies such as the ACIP repeal or modify evidence-based recommendations, the law empowers the Colorado Commissioner of Insurance to maintain coverage in consultation with state health leaders.

The second, Colorado HB25-1027, expands the sources used to inform childhood vaccine recommendations from the Colorado Board of Health to include guidance from medical societies, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians.

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These laws collectively give state leaders and regulators flexibility to help ensure vaccine policies remain rooted in evidence and vaccines remain available for those who want them.

Let me be clear: A patchwork of state protections is not ideal. Unified federal recommendations ensure parity in access and consistency in recommendations across states, which is why the destruction of the ACIP is tragic. But, as Jha said, “inaction is worse.”

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Other states should note that it is not only possible but necessary to act now to protect communities from the erosion of decades of public health progress.

David M. Higgins, Centennial, Colorado

Purge this panel again

Regarding The Post’s June 12 news article “Kennedy selects 8 for vaccine panel he purged”:

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Given Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision to remake the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, our top health institutions must fight back. The American Medical Association — in alliance with other physician specialty groups, such as the American College of Physicians and the American College of Pediatricians — must reconstitute, without delay, the advisory committee with its current membership and staff under their collective aegis. Doing so will provide the committee with the muscle and megaphone to acquire needed data, maintain the committee and provide the nation with a continued flow of unbiased information about vaccines.

Anthony H. Vervena, Springfield

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s purge of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is another move that clearly defines who he is: an activist rather than a scientist.

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He seems to know little about the science of vaccines (or, at least, chooses to ignore the science), and shows a bias against vaccines when he discusses their safety and efficacy.

But even more damning than Kennedy’s predictable moves on this vital subject is the response. The medical profession does not appear to have a unified response to these ongoing issues that affect the population. The American Medical Association and the Children’s Health Defense responded to the purge of ACIP, but there is strength in numbers rather than statements. There are many organizations representing large numbers of physicians in different specialties that could come together as one and protest this action. The medical establishment seems insular in how it behaves and doesn’t appear to comprehend the power of collaboration. They must fight back and speak with one voice.

Larrie Greenberg, Washington

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The writer is professor emeritus in pediatrics at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

All four of the physician senators currently in Congress, Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) and John Barrasso (R-Wyoming), voted to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to his post as health and human services secretary. Contrary to what Kennedy says, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices was made up of highly respected experts whose opinions were valued throughout the medical community.

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With all due respect to my fellow physicians in Congress, we all took the Hippocratic oath to “do no harm.” I meant it. Did they? And what do they intend to do to mitigate the harm they may have facilitated by confirming Kennedy? How will they hold him accountable?

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Kenneth Olshansky, San Rafael, California

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was a terrible pick to be health and human services secretary. Kennedy, a famous anti-vaccine activist, recently removed all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and wasted no time hiring at least eight new members. Those new members include Martin Kulldorff, who called for herd immunity through mass coronavirus infection in 2020, and Vicky Pebsworth, who is on the board of the oldest anti-vaccine group in the United States. There is no doubt in this writer’s mind that the rest of Kennedy’s new picks for ACIP will be more of the same.

ACIP makes recommendations that insurance companies rely on to determine which vaccines will be covered or not covered. It’s incredibly important for all Americans, but especially the vulnerable, that real scientists and doctors are behind the approval for lifesaving vaccines.

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Henry A. Lowenstein, New York

In firing all members of the Centers for Disease Control’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has done us all a massive disservice. I have known and worked with several ACIP members in the past. They are hardworking and principled people of great integrity. They carefully weigh the risks and benefits of immunizations to determine their optimal use in protecting people’s health.

The objectivity, and even the necessary skill set of several of the secretary’s new picks for the panel, are questionable. Vaccines, when properly evaluated and chosen, save lives. They should not be a political football.

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Richard Leman, Honokaa, Hawaii

Pay attention

This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is scheduled to meet for the second time this year. But who will be at the table?

We served in Congress and practiced medicine for decades, so we know how difficult it is to earn a patient or constituent’s trust — and how easy it is to lose it. In public health, credibility is foundational.

The decision to purge ACIP sows more doubt in public health at a time when the country is facing its worst measles outbreaks in decades and when the Senate has not yet confirmed a permanent CDC director. The United States needs steady, science-based leadership to be healthy. Americans must hold officials accountable to deliver.

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Before the purge, the panel was filled with respected clinicians, researchers, scientists and public health leaders with years of high-level experience in their fields. The members are independent, unpaid experts who publicly disclose any potential conflicts and recuse themselves from votes when appropriate.

When public health threats arise, ACIP organizes working groups to provide evidence-based recommendations quickly and transparently. That kind of guidance has never been more critical. This year, measles cases have been reported in more than 30 states, totaling more than 1,200 cases, more than quadruple the total for all of 2024. U.S. children have died from complications for the first time in a decade, and the U.S. is at real risk of losing national measles elimination status, which widespread vaccination helped us achieve in 2000.

Public opinion polling shows Americans still support a strong role for the U.S. in vaccine innovation and access. According to a survey by the Partnership to Fight Infectious Disease, nearly three-quarters of American voters say it should be a top national priority to ensure vaccines approved by the Food and Drug Administration are available to all who need them. That survey also showed that more than two-thirds of voters are concerned about declining childhood vaccination rates.

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It is now our job as citizens to carefully monitor what happens next. Americans should pay attention to the reconstituted ACIP board so that we do not risk delays, confusion and a resurgence of preventable illnesses.

Larry Bucshon, Washington

Michael C. Burgess, Washington