New CDC stance on kids’ vaccines isn’t ‘anti-science’ — it’s pro-parent |
For years, American parents have been told there are only two acceptable positions on childhood vaccines: total compliance or moral failure.
That framing may sound exaggerated if you’ve never navigated pediatric medical care, but for many families it’s a lived reality.
Parents who ask routine questions about whether every recommendation applies equally to every child are often treated not as thoughtful caregivers weighing risks and benefits, but as threats to be neutralized.
Ask about timing, and you’re branded “anti-science.”
Question whether three injections in one appointment are necessary, and you’re warned that you’re endangering other children.
Deviate at all from the Centers for Disease Control’s schedule, and many pediatric practices show you the door.
The message: Agree to everything, exactly as written, or find another doctor.
That dynamic helps explain why the CDC’s newly revised childhood vaccine schedule has triggered such an intense reaction.
Critics have rushed to frame the changes as capitulation to conspiracy theorists or a betrayal of science itself.
New York City’s acting health commissioner scolded federal officials this week for what she portrayed as a dangerous retreat, warning darkly about putting lives at risk.
But stripped........