Doctors, Advocates Call on Congress to ‘Keep the Politics Out of the Science’

The Partnership to Fight Infectious Disease recently hosted a Hill briefing focused on the rapidly evolving vaccine landscape and the implications for parents, patients, physicians and policymakers.

The event, moderated by Candace DeMatteis, PFID’s vice president of policy and advocacy, convened a five-person panel of experts and patient advocates.

• Dr. Tina Tan, pediatric infectious diseases physician, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America

• Dr. Jesse Goodman, former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) chief scientist and director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER); director of Georgetown University’s Center on Medical Product Access, Safety, and Stewardship (COMPASS); and attending physician, infectious diseases, at Georgetown University and DC Veterans Administration hospitals

• Zachary Yaksich, Alana’s father and president of Alana’s Foundation. Alana was an otherwise healthy 5-year-old girl who died in 2003 from influenza complications, before flu shots were recommended for all children.

• Casey Mahlon and Francesca Testa, patient advocates from American Society for Meningitis Prevention. Both were healthy, active high school seniors before contracting bacterial meningitis strains for which neither was vaccinated.

  
  

Rep. Kim Schrier (D-WA), the first pediatrician elected to Congress, and former Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX), an obstetrician-gynecologist, also delivered keynote opening remarks.

With dozens of Hill staff and stakeholders in attendance, the conversation emphasized the importance of vaccines, the dangers of setting back innovation, and concerns about declining trust in America’s public health infrastructure, including the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).

Here’s what they said.

Former Rep. Michael Burgess, MD: “The science is clear: Vaccines against diseases like hepatitis B, measles, mumps, rubella, and RSV are safe, effective and foundational to protecting public health. Reopening settled questions or weakening established recommendations only creates confusion. This fuels misinformation.”

Rep. Kim Schrier, MD: “There is serious danger when doubt and confusion shake the trust between parents and doctors and our public health system. When that trust erodes, our children are the ones who suffer most.”

Dr. Tina Tan: The newly appointed members of ACIP are “making recommendations that are directly contradicting the best science we have.”

Dr. Jesse Goodman: “This was one place that was always a bipartisan space, and I think anything you can do to bring that back would be so important for our country. Everybody could agree on the health of children and protecting us from the next pandemic. I think we somehow have to turn this into a positive way to bring people together in a very divided time because the path we're going down is not a good one."

Zachary Yaksich: “Keep the politics out of the science. Let the science speak for itself.”

Francesca Testa: “I had to learn how to walk again. I wasn't able to swim for a D1 school. Basically, my whole life trajectory at that point had turned upside down in less than 24 hours, but also my family’s and also our community.”

Casey Mahlon: “It was a long time before I felt like myself again. I missed out on so many experiences. …It was really rough, guys. I wouldn’t mess with it, and I would make sure all my loved ones were covered and protected with vaccines.”

Click here to watch a recording of the briefing.