john,

I want to take a moment to talk with you—not to ask for anything, but to share something that’s weighing heavily on me as a doctor, a mom, and your representative.

You may have seen the news: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. removed all 17 members of the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee. These are experts whose job is to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of vaccines that protect millions of Americans and decide, based on the evidence, which ones to recommend and for whom. They do this transparently—so the public can hear their deliberations—and with scientific integrity.

In their place, he appointed eight new members, many of whom rose to prominence not through medical leadership, but through spreading vaccine skepticism during the COVID-19 pandemic. These are people who elevated unfounded fears about life-saving mRNA vaccines, opposed school safety measures, and downplayed the very real toll of the virus, usually without any grounding in science or public health. To be clear, they are the fringe, not the mainstream, and now they are making decisions about which vaccines to recommend. Scared yet?

john, I’m a pediatrician, and I’ve taken care of tiny infants with pertussis who just stop breathing. The DTaP vaccine prevents this. I’ve done lots of spinal taps to rule out meningitis in babies. (Pneumococcal and HIB vaccines have dramatically reduced illness, disability, and death from meningitis.) I’ve had healthy patients hospitalized for flu and RSV.

I ran for Congress because I saw firsthand how political decisions were putting my patients at risk. But I never imagined just how bad things could get—with our institutions under threat, and with the Department of Health and Human Services used as a platform for extreme ideologies.

This is dangerous. Scaring parents from immunizing their children, against mountains of evidence that vaccines are safe and effective, isn’t just a political talking point, it's leading to declines in childhood vaccinations, and outbreaks of measles and other diseases we thought we had beaten. It is also putting our most vulnerable —newborns, the elderly, immunocompromised people—directly at risk.

I’ve been calling out RFK Jr.’s BS from the beginning because I knew he was not qualified to make these kinds of decisions. I spoke with senators before his confirmation vote and pleaded with them to not confirm him as HHS secretary. But they did. And now he's proving exactly what we expected—he’s making public health decisions based on ideology, not science. He’s packing committees with fellow vaccine deniers. He’s pandering to the fringe wellness industry and getting rich by peddling unproven remedies. This endangers public health.

I’ll keep fighting in Congress to make sure decisions about your health are based on facts, not fear, and on data, not denial.

And, as always, I’ll keep standing on the side of science, truth, and the health of our families.

Thank you for standing with me.

Kim





Rep. Kim Schrier is a doctor, scientist, and mom, fighting for Washington's 8th District in Congress. This is one of the most competitive districts in the country, so we need your help to keep Kim in Congress. Chip in now to help protect Kim's seat.

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