The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) is encouraging all adults, including pregnant women, to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
“History shows us that vaccines have eradicated diseases that were disabling and deadly in the past, and we can keep it that way, if we continue to vaccinate,” said Margot Savoy, AAFP’s chief medical officer. “Protecting public health is our collective responsibility. This fall and always, the AAFP stands with our members and public health partners to promote vaccine confidence and uptake.”
Similarly, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued new guidance that recommends that children under the age of two receive the COVID-19 vaccine, despite the Trump administration’s shift away from such recommendations. The AAP has also released an updated policy statement arguing that universal immunization for children is necessary for safety, stating that non-medical exemptions to vaccines are a “deeply problematic tool.”
The statement, centering on vaccines for children attending school, claimed that “exempting children for nonmedical reasons from immunizations is problematic for medical, public health, and ethical reasons and creates unnecessary risk to both individuals and communities.”
The medical organizations’ claims stand in contrast to efforts made by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who recently announced that the FDA revoked the emergency use authorization for the COVID-19 vaccine.
Kennedy said he made four major promises: ending vaccine mandates, keeping vaccines available for those who want them, implementing placebo-controlled trials, and ending the emergency for COVID-19.
“In a series of FDA actions today we accomplished all four goals,” Kennedy said. “The emergency use authorizations for Covid vaccines, once used to justify broad mandates on the general public during the Biden administration, are now rescinded.”
“FDA has now issued marketing authorization for those at higher risk: Moderna (6+ months), Pfizer (5+), and Novavax (12+). These vaccines are available for all patients who choose them after consulting with their doctors,” he continued. “The American people demanded science, safety, and common sense. This framework delivers all three.”
