Image courtesy of the AAP Vaccine Confidence Campaign
Vaccines
Are you confused by the amount of opinions and information about vaccines?
Are you nervous about a potential side effect?
Do you have questions about developmental delays, or even autism?
Are you worried about the ingredients used in vaccines? Or the amount of vaccines given to children over time?
Do you feel pressured by friends or family to vaccinate or not to vaccinate your child?
Do you feel dismissed when you try to ask questions about vaccines?
Regardless of your answers to any of the above questions, and regardless of your opinion on vaccine, I’m sure we all share the same common ground:
You care about your child and you want them to be healthy!
This article was written to help address common concerns and vaccine myths, provide science based facts about vaccines, and guide you to high quality sources of information so you can feel confident in the vaccine-related decisions you make for your child and your family.
Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation floating around from influencers, friends, family members, and even from government agencies. As a pediatrician, it is my job to stay informed on all aspects of the vaccine conversation so I can provide accurate information for my patients and their families. With more than a decade of training and experience, from a bachelor degree in biology, four years of medical school, three years of pediatric specialization, and now over five years of clinical practice caring for thousands of children, I try to use my expertise to help guide families towards quality resources, guidelines, and recommendations, and treat my patients as if they were my own children.
I welcome questions and I want parents to be as informed as possible. I will never turn away families who are hesitant or unsure about vaccinations. If this resonates with you, then read on and keep the conversation going!
IMPORTANT UPDATE
January 2026
In recent months, vaccine guidance and public health messaging in the United States have become increasingly influenced by political leadership rather than by longstanding scientific consensus. This represents a significant departure from how vaccine recommendations have historically been developed — through independent review of evidence by experts in immunology, epidemiology, and public health.
Despite these changes at the federal level, the scientific evidence supporting routine childhood vaccination has not changed. Large, high-quality studies continue to demonstrate that vaccines are safe, effective, and essential for protecting children and communities.
For this reason, all major medical organizations — including the American Academy of Pediatrics — continue to recommend the standard, evidence-based childhood vaccine schedule without modification. These recommendations are made by physicians and scientists who care for children every day and are accountable to medical ethics, data, and patient outcomes.
When making decisions about your child’s health, it is important to distinguish between political messaging and medical consensus. My recommendations in this article and on this site are based on the best available scientific evidence and the guidance of pediatric specialists whose sole priority is the health and wellbeing of children.
Here’s what the American Academy of Pediatrics released after these changes:
Contents
Childhood Immunization Schedule
See also CHOP.edu Vaccine Schedule: Timetable
See also Vaccine Information Statements (VIS)
High-Quality Sources of Information
The following sites provide high-quality, evidence-based, accurate, and reliable information. Click on the image to go to each site
FAQ’s / Vaccine Myths (and what the evidence actually says)
These are the questions I am asked most often in clinic and the ones that tend to spread quickly on social media. Many of these myths sound alarming at first, but they come from fear rather than fact and fall apart quickly when compared to real scientific evidence. The answers below should not constitute individual medical advice and your specific questions and concerns should always be discussed with a healthcare professional. The following is for educational purposes only.
Certain groups may require additional considerations prior to receiving immunizations, while in other specific cases vaccines may be contraindicated. For additional information about these groups, CLICK HERE to go to the CHOP.edu Vaccine Education Center topic that addresses these unique situations.
Why did the vaccine schedule change? (and why it’s concerning)
On December 5, 2025 the President of the United States signed a memorandum directing the Secretary of Human Services to examine the vaccine schedule and review the “scientific evidence that informs those best practices.” Less than one month later, the CDC released a decision memorandum to act on the President’s directive.
Why is this concerning?
First and foremost, this was NOT an evidence-based decision. In the CDC’s Comprehensive Scientific Assessment they claim that “This assessment is a scientific, evidence-based, data-driven response to the President’s directive. It argues that a change in the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule is necessary. It compares the U.S. with peer nations, examines vaccine uptake and trust, addresses clinical and epidemiological considerations and knowledge gaps, analyzes vaccine mandates, and outlines recommendations and next steps for immediate and long-term action.” They further argue “Any changes in the vaccination schedule should be accompanied by scientific research to evaluate the short- and long-term impact“. Ono month is insufficient time to make these claims, perform the studies, and examine the long-term outcomes. That’s not how science works.
Yet despite these statements, they made sweeping changes to the vaccine schedule in less than one month, without performing the rigorous scientific studies they themselves demanded, and without consulting vaccine experts or medical societies including their own ACIP. These changes contradict decades of safety and efficacy data that demonstrate vaccine effectiveness. Read more over at the AAP’s page on All About the AAP Recommended Immunization Schedule.
Secondly, there exist numerous conflicts of interest and significant bias from the main authors for the paper: Tracy Beth Høeg, MD, Ph.D., Acting Director for the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research and FDA Ex Officio member to ACIP, and Martin Kulldorff, Ph.D., Chief Science and Data Officer for the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. According to the CDC Release, National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, Food and Drug Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary, and CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, Acting CDC Director Jim O’Neill were the main contributors to approve this decision. No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed in the release by these individuals which is contrary to good science and peer-reviewed literature.
Tracy Beth Høeg – Danish-American dual citizenship, PM&R physician specializing in interventional spine and sports medicine, completed fellowship in 2019 with no post-residency or post-fellowship clinical experience. She is NOT a practicing physican. She received her doctorate in public health and epidemiology at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. Long-standing history of being outspoken against COVID vaccinations, vaccination schedules, and public health mandates. It’s interesting that now the CDC and Department of Health and Human Services are so interested in adopting Denmark’s vaccine schedule.
Martin Kulldorff – Swedish-American biostatistician, PhD. Long-standing COVID vaccine critic. Significant financial conflict of interest by receiving thousands of dollars as an expert witness against Merk and the HPV vaccine. in the aforementioned CDC Comprehensive Scientific Assessment, he is self-cited multiple times, including pre-print, non-peer-reviewed articles.
Jay Bhattacharya – Indian-American MD and PhD, although did not pursue a career in clinical medicine, rather academic medicine and research. Long-standing opponent of early COVID health mandates and COVID vaccines.
Marty Makary – British-American physician, MD, with extensive clinical experience as a surgeon. Advocate of improving the healthcare system and reducing physician errors, among other positive career efforts. Recently, he has become an opponent to the COVID vaccine and mandates.
Mehmet Oz – well-known Dr. Oz, physician, MD, and surgeon. He has multiple financial conflicts of interest including ownership and shares in supplement companies. He is widely known for promoting dubious health and wellness products and medical claims not based in science.
Jim O’Neill – Investor and Entrepreneur without any medical or science background, which is very uncommon for a CDC Director. He has multiple investment ties and former board roles to pharmaceutical and biotech industries.
Lastly, there was no attempt at collaboration with major medical societies or expertise, namely the American Association of Immunologists, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Physicians, to name a few. Based on decades of research, expertise, and review of literature, these major medical institutions continue to recommend vaccination despite the recent changes made by the CDC.
How do vaccines even work?
Check out the following articles from the CHOP.edu Vaccine Education Center and the World Health Organization:
What’s in a Vaccine?
(World Health Organization)
Types of Vaccine Ingredients
(CHOP.edu Vaccine Education Center)
Do vaccines cause AUTISM?
No.
This myth has been disproven again and again in large, high quality studies both in the United States and around the world. Despite recent attempts by certain government officials to use their platform to blatantly spread misinformation for political gain, the scientific fact remains unchanged. Vaccines do not cause autism.
I’m worried that vaccines might contain TOXINS
Dose matters.
Vaccines are safe and the amount of ingredients and their respective doses found in vaccines is not toxic. As the saying goes, The dose makes the poison. Almost any substance can be harmful at a high enough dose. For example:
Water
Essential for survival, but drinking an extreme amount in a short time can cause serious illness, swelling of the brain, and even death.
Sunlight
Needed for Vitamin D, mental health, growing plants that we eat, etc. but too much exposure causes sunburn and increases the risk of skin cancer.
Apple seeds
Contain natural cyanide compounds, but you would need to eat hundreds or even thousands of seeds at once to reach a toxic level.
Similarly, the ingredients found in vaccines are extremely small, carefully measured, rigorously tested, and far below any level that could ever become toxic. So unless you plan to avoid potential “toxins” such as water, sunlight, apples, driving a car, everyday air pollution, etc., there is no need to avoid vaccines out of concern for toxicity.
See below for more common questions about Aluminum, Thimerosal (Mercury), and overall number of vaccines given in the first 6 months to 2 years of life.
Will TOXINS build up over time in my baby’s system and Cross the Blood Brain Barrier?
No. Again, dose matters.
As mentioned above, the ingredients found in vaccines are extremely small, carefully measured, rigorously tested, and far below any level that could ever become toxic. These ingredients are efficiently filtered out of the body and do not remain or build up to toxic amounts.
For more information, check out the following articles:
Vaccine Safety: Blood-brain Barrier and Vaccines (CHOP.edu Vaccine Education Center)
How Vaccines Are Developed, Safety Tested & Approved: Step by Step (HealthyChildren.org from the American Academy of Pediatrics)
But what about Aluminum? Mercury? Thimerosal? Formaldehyde? Fetal Cells? Aren’t those TOXIC?
In case you missed it from above, The dose makes the poison.
The ingredients found in vaccines are extremely small, carefully measured, rigorously tested, and far below any level that could ever become toxic, even for infants and children. These ingredients are efficiently filtered out of the body and do not remain or build up to toxic amounts.
For a deep dive into the vaccine ingredients, check out the next FAQ topic
So what are the actual ingredients that go into vaccines?
Vaccine Ingredients
(CHOP.edu Vaccine Education Center)
Vaccine Ingredients: Frequently Asked Questions
(HealthyChildren.org from the American Academy of Pediatrics)
Will giving so many vaccines overwhelm my child’s immune system?
Not at all!
As mentioned before, the ingredients used for vaccines are efficiently filtered out of the body and do not remain or build up to toxic amounts.
For more information, check out the following articles:
Vaccine Safety: Blood-brain Barrier and Vaccines
(CHOP.edu Vaccine Education Center)
How Vaccines Are Developed, Safety Tested & Approved: Step by Step
(HealthyChildren.org from the American Academy of Pediatrics)
Why does my baby need so many vaccines before they’re even 6 months old?
Developing Immune System
Before 6 months of age, babies are developing their immune system. They are unable to mount a complete immune response against many diseases, nor do they have the antibodies necessary to do so. In fact, babies are unable to create their own long-term antibodies until about 6 months of age! One of nature’s miraculous ways to combat this is by passive antibody transfer from mom to baby before birth through the placenta, and afterwards through breast milk! However, these are considered “passive” or borrowed immunity and does not become part of an infant or child’s long-term antibody memory.
Vaccines create an additional layer of protection by helping an infant develop antibodies against a number of dangerous diseases, most of which are not passively transferred from mother in infant via the placenta or breast milk. And until an infant can start to create long-term memory antibodies on their own at around 6 months of age, boosters are given about every 2 months to ensure that protection stays in place.
For a deep dive into this topic, check out:
(CHOP.edu Vaccine Education Center)
Doctors are just getting paid by Big Pharma to give vaccines
If this were the case, pediatricians would not be the lowest paid specialty in medicine. Vaccines are expensive to stock and require rigorous temperature and administration controls/protocols. We give vaccines because we know they work!
For more information, check out the following articles:
Vaccine Safety: Examine the Evidence
(HealthyChildren.org from the American Academy of Pediatrics)
Social Media / News
You can start by checking out and following some of these accounts recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics
Measles
Once eliminated in the United States due to the MMR vaccine, Measles cases are surging at an alarming rate. Measles is one of the most contagious diseases and can cause more than just fever and rash, including ear infections, pneumonia, brain swelling (encephalitis), immune amnesia, and death. Fortunately, the MMR vaccine is about 93-95% effective after one dose, and about 97% effective after the second dose.
For the latest Measles case updates, visit the following sites:
Opinion
The following are my personal opinions and viewpoints on vaccines, but is backed by my years of expertise, training, knowledge, and real-world clinical experience. I have spent over a decade learning how to perform, understand, and apply research to real-world clinical scenarios. I continue to do my own research to stay up-to-date as much as possible in order to provide the best care for my patients, especially when it comes to vaccines. To date, I have yet to find a single credible or evidence-based claim that disproves the safety or effectiveness of routine childhood vaccines.
We live in an extremely privileged time with access to nutritious food, clean water, and modern health technology. To be in a position to refuse a vaccine, with minimal to no risk of contracting the disease eliminated by vaccines, is also extremely privileged. Our modern society has not directly witnessed the devastating impact these diseases once caused. As a physician, I have never seen or treated many of the diseases that are now prevented thanks to vaccines. They exist only in textbooks.
Unfortunately, we are starting to see a resurgence of some of these vaccine-preventable diseases, such as Measles, Whooping Cough (Pertussis), and others. These resurgences are easily prevented by vaccines and have resulted in needless and careless deaths.
New technologies and research are ongoing to continue to prevent disease. One such example is the recent development of the RSV vaccine Nirsevimab in 2023. Pediatricians REJOICED when this was released!
I join pediatricians around the world with a shared vision of keeping your children healthy and thriving. We care deeply and do what we do out of love for you and your family. We hope that amongst the confusing tangle of misinformation and the overwhelming amount of information available at our fingertips, that we can be your beacon of truth. When you find yourself asking Who can I trust? We hope it will always be Your Pediatrician.
– Dr. Maxwell
The Pediatrician's Corner 
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