By Jeffrey Woldt
The time has come for pharmacists to take a stand against the policy choices made by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. In arguably the most egregious in a series of measures that undermine established approaches to protecting public health and developing innovative treatments, the secretary of Health and Human Services has dismissed the entire Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) - the group that offers guidance to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the safety and efficacy of vaccines, as well as how the products should be used. After letting the 17 distinguished physicians and scientists who comprised the ACIP go, Kennedy began appointing new members, many of whom share his often-expressed skepticism about the value of immunizations.
Kennedy's decision has the potential to upend one of the greatest achievements of modern medicine.
Widespread use of vaccines has drastically reduced or eliminated a variety of serious conditions, including polio, smallpox, tetanus and hepatitis B. Any significant decline in the number of people who are immunized for such highly contagious diseases as measles would result in increased incidence of illness and put the entire community at risk.
Pharmacists know all too well how much is at stake. They were on the front line during the COVID-19 pandemic, delivering more than 350 million immunizations against the virus. The effectiveness of the COVID vaccines prevented untold suffering and death, and in the process enabled the country to return to normalcy. No less significantly, pharmacists administer millions of flu shots and other immunizations every year. They see firsthand the positive impact that vaccines have on the health and well-being of their patients.
Some pharmacists might argue against challenging Kennedy's overhaul of the ACIP, asserting that the profession should stay out of politics and not run the risk of getting on the wrong side of the Trump ad-ministration. That misses the point: The approach to vaccine policy should be strictly scientific, not po-litical. The preponderance of research, guidance from ACIP members and other experts, and decades of experience all point to the invaluable role that immunizations play in keeping people healthy. With the rigorous science-based training they receive, pharmacists should understand the importance of vaccines as well as anybody. They need to act.