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January 26, 2026

Vaccine Panel Chair Says Polio and Measles Shots Should Be Optional
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The chair of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices at the
CDC, Dr. Kirk Milhoan, said that shots against polio and measles should
be optional. His comments came in an interview with the podcast "Why
Should I Trust You?" where Dr. Milhoan said, "As you look at polio, we
need to not be afraid to consider that we are in a different time now
than we were then. Our sanitation is different, our risk of disease is
different and so that those all play into the evaluation of whether this
is worthwhile of taking a risk for a vaccine or not." During the
interview, Dr. Milhoan called school vaccinations "authoritarian." Dr.

Sean O'Leary, the chair of the infectious disease committee at the
American Academy of Pediatrics, said in response, "He has no idea what
he's talking about. It's very frustrating for those of us who spend our
careers trying to do what we can to improve the health of children to
see harm coming to children because of an ideological agenda not
grounded in science."


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