A risk to child health: confusion and concern over changes to US vaccine policy - The Lancet : Shared by John Gilmartin

Good Evening All,

Here is another piece from Lancet I think useful to XUNICEF.  

What's interesting for me to to see Prof/Dr Stanley Plotkin among the authors cited.  You've heard me already reminiscing about Maurice Hillelman the head of Merck vaccine research in the 70's 80's and still active in the 90's (Maurice was at the Children's Summit, so was Jonas Salk), but here is Stanley Plotkin summing up the impact of vaccines in the USA mainly since the 1960's, and then nicely discussing the future impact of current changes.  All this in one readable tight paragraph. 

Here's a sample; 

"Routine childhood immunisations prevented an estimated 32 million hospitalisations and over 1 million deaths in the USA from 1994 to 2023.3 As a result, the USA has been a global leader in vaccine policy,"  

Dr. Plotkin is the author of Vaccines, which is now in its eighth edition and used widely in the field.

What is the value of preventing 32 million child hospitalizations?  Let's speculate that in the next 20 years the USA has an additional 32 million child hospitalizations linked to vaccine preventable disease; what would that cost?  I'm an amateur and I'm just guessing, but can any child who is admitted to a US hospital today leave for less than $7,000?  

I'm trying to be conservative.  That cost would be over $200 BILLION.  

The cost of one million child deaths in the USA which were not prevented by these vaccines?  There's no price on that.

I did not know Plotkin personally, but over the years thanks to the education UNICEF gave me, I learned that everyone in the world of vaccine and public health loved and respected him.  Below the Lancet piece is his Wiki bio.  Thanks, John

A risk to child health: confusion and concern over changes to US vaccine policy

Andrew J Pollard, Stanley Plotkin

The Lancet

February 07, 2026

Click here for the article: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(26)00090-5/fulltext

Summary

The authors examine recent changes to US vaccine policy under Robert F Kennedy Jr as Secretary of Health and Human Services, expressing concern about the departure from evidence-based scientific recommendations. Routine childhood immunizations prevented an estimated 32 million hospitalizations and over 1 million deaths in the USA from 1994 to 2023, establishing the USA as a global leader in vaccine policy.

Since June 2025, all members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) have been replaced by a new panel whose credentials have been questioned, with some appointees having expressed anti-vaccination views. ACIP meetings focused on debunked myths about vaccine safety, including links to autism, thimerosal preservative safety, and aluminum adjuvants—all of which lack scientific evidence of risk.

On January 2, 2026, HHS announced reducing recommended vaccines from 17 to 11. Previously recommended vaccines against rotavirus, influenza, COVID-19, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and meningococcal disease were moved to a "shared clinical decision-making" category, implying they are less important.

The authors highlight particular concerns about suspending universal hepatitis B vaccination at birth. The UK screens 99.8% of pregnant women and achieves a mother-to-child transmission rate of only 0.06%, while the USA screens only 84-88% of pregnant women and vaccinates only 80% of infants at birth, potentially leading to 625 hepatitis B cases annually. The number is expected to increase under the new targeted approach.

The authors conclude that the USA's role as a leader in science-led immunization policy is diminished and recommend that countries look to WHO recommendations instead of ACIP, and that US clinicians depend on independent organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Quotes

"Routine childhood immunisations prevented an estimated 32 million hospitalisations and over 1 million deaths in the USA from 1994 to 2023. As a result, the USA has been a global leader in vaccine policy, with one of the most comprehensive immunisation programmes in the world, serving as a model for science-based vaccine programmes."

"Since June, 2025, members of the ACIP have been replaced by a new panel whose credentials in vaccine science, public health, or immunology have been questioned. Some of the new ACIP appointees have expressed anti-vaccination views."

"90% of infants infected with HBV will develop chronic infection with long-term risks of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma."

"Even with the previously recommended universal programme in the USA with a birth dose of HBV vaccine offered to all babies, only 80% of infants were vaccinated (compared with 99% of those at risk in the UK), potentially leading to about one in five babies missing the important birth dose vaccination and a predicted 625 hepatitis B cases per year."

"The role of the USA as a leading light in science-led immunisation policy is already dimmed and other countries can no longer rely on recommendations from the ACIP as a reference point for evidence-based policy decisions."

"Immunisation has shielded children in the USA from the ravages of infectious disease over recent decades but they are now on the front line of a scientifically incomprehensible battle against vaccines, the casualties of which will be our children."