Addressing Vaccine and Infectious Disease Misconceptions in the MAHA Report

The MAHA Commission's recent report, Making Our Children Healthy Again, details concerns around chronic childhood diseases. Unfortunately, it raises several misleading and unsupported claims about vaccines and infectious disease prevention, undermining decades of public health evidence and progress. It also misinterpreted research and cited seven sources that don’t appear to exist at all, according to news outlet NOTUS.

Below are five key issues with how the report addresses vaccines and infectious diseases.

1. Misrepresentation of the Childhood Vaccine Schedule

The report cites the “growth of the childhood vaccination schedule” in a section about overmedicalization, implying that routine immunizations are part of a trend of excessive medical interventions.

This framing ignores the fact that vaccines are – by very nature – preventative, not reactive. The U.S. childhood vaccination schedule is one of the most successful public health tools in history. According to the CDC, routine childhood immunizations for those born from 1994-2023 have prevented more than 500 million illnesses, 32 million hospitalizations, and 1.1 million deaths, saving an estimated $2.7 trillion in societal costs.

The schedule has expanded based on advances in science, independent expert recommendations, and decades of clear safety evaluation and monitoring. Undermining this framework risks confusing families and discouraging the use of time-tested protections.

2. False Equivalence Between Vaccines and Unnecessary Prescriptions

By grouping vaccines with a list of “overprescribed” medicines, the report suggests vaccines are overused or misapplied – which is inaccurate.

Vaccines are not prescribed to treat existing conditions. They are carefully timed interventions to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. Before ever reaching patients, vaccines undergo 10-15 years of laboratory research and at least three phases of clinical trials with tens of thousands of participants. Then, the FDA conducts an extensive review process to evaluate safety, dosage, side effects, immune response, and health benefits. Monitoring for safety and side effects continues even after approval.

Conflating vaccines with prescribed medicines misleads the public, can contribute to vaccine hesitancy, and fails to address real and separate concerns like increasing antibiotic resistance.

3. Framing Infectious Disease Prevention as Ineffective

The report claims that decades of public health investment have failed to reduce chronic disease in children. This argument confuses chronic conditions with infectious diseases – two entirely different categories with different causes and solutions.

Vaccines are not designed to prevent obesity, diabetes, or mental illness. They are, however, designed and highly effective for the prevention of contagious diseases like measles, polio, hepatitis A and B, smallpox, and whooping cough. For example, the CDC and WHO estimate that measles vaccination alone has prevented more than 60 million deaths globally since 2000, and polio vaccination has spared 20 million children from paralysis since 1998.

Dismissing vaccine investments based on unrelated chronic disease trends distorts their proven value and purpose.

4. Inaccurate Portrayal of Vaccine Approvals and Recommendations

The report questions the integrity of vaccine science by suggesting industry influence over regulators and researchers.

In reality, vaccine development and approval involves multiple layers of independent oversight, including rigorous clinical trials, FDA and CDC review panels, advisory committees, and real-world safety monitoring systems. These processes are guided by career scientists under strict conflict-of-interest rules – not by corporate interests.

Casting doubt on this system risks eroding public trust in one of the most rigorously monitored areas of medicine.

5. Omission of Vaccine Success Stories

The report fails to acknowledge the profound success of vaccines in eliminating or reducing deadly diseases – omitting a critical piece of America’s public health history and leadership.

Because vaccines have been so effective, most Americans haven’t experienced the era of polio paralysis or widespread measles outbreaks. But these diseases have not disappeared. They are kept at bay through sustained immunizations. When vaccine rates drop, these illnesses can quickly return – as we’ve seen with the fatal measles outbreak in Texas this year.

Vaccines also reduce the economic and social tolls of disease. Seasonal flu alone, for example, costs the U.S. more than $11 billion annually in lost productivity and healthcare expenses. By preventing illness, vaccines protect families, schools, places of worship, and entire communities. Leaving these facts out presents an incomplete and misleading picture of public health progress.