EAST PROVIDENCE, RI – This week, President Donald Trump irresponsibly promoted debunked anti-vaccine claims, wrongly implied vaccines are causing autism, and injected his own ‘gut feelings’ into calls for changes to the childhood immunization schedule that could have negative health impacts for children and U.S. public health.

Today, U.S. Senator Jack Reed reminded people that vaccines are safe and effective and significantly improve health outcomes and reduce direct health care expenditures by preventing diseases before they occur.

Reed urged parents and expectant parents to listen to their pediatricians, not Donald Trump, when it comes to medical advice and vaccinating children. And he urged the Trump Administration to work with Congress on a bipartisan basis to strengthen, not weaken, the nation’s health care system and ensure people have access to affordable health care.

“Vaccines save lives. By creating vaccine confusion and spreading misinformation about autism, President Trump did a real disservice to parents and patients looking to keep themselves and their loved ones safe. Evidence-based medicine works and the facts are clear: Vaccines are safe, effective, and help save lives and money,” said Senator Reed. “When it comes to vaccines and children’s health, parents should follow the science and not politics: Listen to your pediatrician about the benefits, risks, and everything needed to make an informed decision. Neither Donald Trump nor Robert Kennedy Jr. have any medical or scientific background. They are recklessly politicizing the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), an organization that should be apolitical. I’m working at the federal level to restore integrity and evidence-based facts to our public health system,” said Senator Reed.

When it comes to vaccine safety, major medical organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, consistently affirm the safety and efficacy of vaccines.

Pediatricians also emphasize that there are benefits and risks when it comes to medical choices, including vaccines. While the risks of serious side effects from vaccines are extremely rare, the benefits -- including preventing severe disease, hospitalization, and death -- are quite substantial to both individuals and communities.

In Rhode Island, the state’s vaccination rate during the 2024 school year was 96.7 percent according to an analysis of state health and state education department data conducted by NBC News and Stanford University that looked at core childhood vaccines that includes measles, mumps, rubella, polio, whooping cough, and diphtheria shots. The report found that nationally 68 percent of counties and jurisdictions currently have immunization rates below 95 percent — the level of herd immunity doctors say is needed to protect against an outbreak.

Vaccines Work

“Rhode Island proudly boasts some of the highest pediatric vaccine rates in the nation but given the barrage of current headlines and social media posts, we want to continue to keep all of our children protected and vaccinated against significant, and at times, life threatening, preventable illnesses,” said Dr. Elizabeth Lange, a pediatrician at Waterman Pediatrics/Coastal Medical Lifespan and co-director of PCMH-Kids. “With all the vaccine success stories we have and the statistics to back them up, knowing that we have the vaccines to prevent devastating illnesses, why would we knowingly go back? The science is clear – vaccines are well studied, well tolerated, and the safest way to protect children and all citizens against serious and life-threatening infections.”

“Prevention is at the heart of pediatrics. We strive to help children grow into their best selves, physically healthy, emotionally strong, and confident. In this work, vaccines are incredible important. Vaccines are the safety and most effective way to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, like measles, whooping cough, and polio,” said Dr. Patricia Flanagan, a pediatrician at Hasbro Children’s Hospital, a professor of pediatrics at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and co-director, PCMH-Kids. “Thanks to vaccines, many serious diseases that used to be common are now rarely seen. Ensuring that children stay up to date on vaccinations keeps these diseases from making a comeback. Because the germs are still out there.”

Since becoming President Trump’s secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Kennedy has undermined America’s public health consensus, leading to the dismissal of Director Susan Monarez from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the departure of other top CDC officials who refused to carry out Kennedy’s dangerous, anti-science policies, with one former CDC expert accusing him of “weaponization of public health.”

During the event, Senator Reed warned President Trump and Secretary Kennedy’s spread of misinformation about childhood vaccinations could lead to more infections, more hospitalizations, and more preventable deaths.

“Ensuring children have access to routine childhood vaccinations is a public health imperative,” said Senator Reed. “The Trump Administration should stop spreading vaccine misinformation, cutting Medicaid, reducing access to affordable health coverage, and driving up health care costs.”