The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its annual schedule of vaccinations and immunizations Monday, critical this year, they said, due to lingering skepticism about vaccines in the new presidential administration.
“The release of the annual immunization schedules comes amid concerns that the Trump administration has proposed appointing a group to study the safety and effectiveness of vaccines,” the update read.
The changes for 2017 include updated recommendations for a two-dose schedule of HPV vaccines and a two-dose schedule of meningitis B vaccines, among other revisions. The guidelines also detail recommendations for influenza, measles, mumps and rubella, tetanus and other vaccinations. The updated schedule is broken up by age group and dosage, and the full list of recommendations can be accessed online or in printable form.
John Meigs, the president of AAFP, also released a statement entitled “Vaccines are Safe, Effective and They Save Lives,” a response to President Donald Trump’s suspicions about the efficacy and necessity of vaccines for children.
“Healthy young child goes to doctor, gets pumped with massive shot of many vaccines, doesn’t feel good and changes – AUTISM. Many such cases,” Trump tweeted in March 2014.
“The fake news of an alleged link between vaccines and autism has been thoroughly debunked,” Meigs said in the statement.
Trump also took his mistrust of immunization to a meeting with Robert F. Kennedy, an environmental lawyer with a history of vaccine skepticism, in January. The two floated the idea of creating a group to study the safety and effectiveness of vaccines.
“A new federal commission on immunization is not necessary and would divert much-needed dollars from other, more pressing health care issues,” said Meigs. “To suggest the need for such an organization promotes unnecessary, ongoing and disproven skepticism about vaccines and public safety.”
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