A major pediatrician group on July 28 called for states to stop allowing nonmedical exemptions for vaccines required for day care centers and schools, alleging that letting unvaccinated children attend puts others at risk.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) said in a policy statement that medical exemptions to vaccine mandates, which are in place in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, are necessary because there are recognized contraindications. If people have certain conditions, they’re advised not to receive certain vaccines because those vaccines can trigger problems.
However, while Dr. Jesse Hackell and the other authors of the statement acknowledged that parents have authority over their children, they wrote that letting parents apply for and receive nonmedical exemptions for their children increases the risks for other children and teachers.
Nonmedical exemptions include exemptions for religious reasons.
“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 authors wrote. “The AAP advocates for the elimination of nonmedical exemptions from immunizations as contrary to optimal individual and public health.”
The AAP has about 67,000 members in the United States and other countries. It receives some funding from pharmaceutical companies, including vaccine manufacturers.
The group’s last policy statement on exemptions was issued in 2016 and also called for eliminating nonmedical exemptions. The group reaffirmed that statement in early 2022.
AAP policy statements expire five years after publication unless they are reaffirmed or revised.
The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, a nonprofit that represents doctors and surgeons and says it does not accept money from corporations, disagrees with the AAP.
“Allowing medical exemptions only is a sham. There are very narrow requirements, and doctors who write for more than a few could lose their license,” Dr. Jane Orient, the association’s executive director, told The Epoch Times in an email.
“AAP is concerned about protecting a lucrative source of income. More and more new parents are thinking of skipping one or more vaccines, and if their child doesn’t get all of them, the pediatrician could lose her ‘quality’ bonus.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services told The Epoch Times in an email that “the Trump administration supports states that provide vaccine exemptions for sincerely held religious faith.”
All U.S. states and the District of Columbia allow medical exemptions to school vaccine requirements, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Only five of the states do not allow nonmedical exemptions.
In West Virginia, one of those five, there are legal battles unfolding over an executive order issued by the governor that directs officials to allow exemptions for religious reasons.
The number of exemptions has risen in recent years as vaccination coverage has declined, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported in 2024. According to a recent survey, one-third of parents plan to delay or decline all or some vaccines for their children.
States largely base vaccination requirements on the immunization schedule developed by the CDC and its advisory panel. Newly named advisers announced during a June meeting that they would be examining the cumulative impact of the schedule, which has grown sharply over time.
Under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the CDC in May stopped recommending COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children.
The CDC states on its website that the immunization schedule “is carefully designed to provide protection at just the right time.”