Iris Gorfinkel is a family physician and a clinical researcher in Toronto.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during an event with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, Jan. 14, in Washington.Alex Brandon/The Associated Press
Early this month, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rewrote its childhood immunization schedule. A routine process that had protected kids against 17 diseases will now only protect against 11, with six vaccines lopped off the schedule. This sweeping shift in U.S. policy could fuel dangerous comebacks of preventable diseases in Canada.
Childhood vaccinations against tetanus, whooping cough, polio, measles, chicken pox and HPV still remain, but certain others will no longer be automatic, including influenza, COVID, hepatitis A and/or B depending on age group, meningitis and RSV (the number‑one reason infants land in hospital). Some vaccines are now advised just for “high-risk” children or only after discussing it with a health care provider. Compounding the confusion is what constitutes “high risk,” meaning a child’s chance of receiving a vaccine can depend on which doctor’s door their parents walk through. One unprotected child with rotavirus on a cross-border road trip can set off outbreaks in daycares and pediatric wards from Montana to Manitoba.
Unfortunately, vaccines have become a party-loyalty litmus test in both the U.S. and Canada.
Opinion: The destruction of one of the world’s great public health agencies is a travesty
In the current measles and whooping-cough surges, states such as Texas have carried a disproportionate share of U.S. cases. Ontario saw the greatest number of confirmed measles infections in Canada, but Alberta bore the brunt of the outbreak when adjusted for population size. When leaders use vaccines for their culture wars, children become collateral damage. Disinformation is just as contagious as the diseases themselves, and is turbo-charging distrust in immunizations that have saved millions of lives.
In June, 2025, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., fired all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunizations and later replaced them with loyalists who are mostly anti‑vaccine and have far less expertise in immunization. In November, Mr. Kennedy forced the CDC to walk back its clear statement that vaccines do not cause autism – ignoring clear evidence from more than 25 studies in top medical journals finding no link at all. That isn’t caution – it’s rewriting decades of science for political gain.
RFK Jr. says he told CDC to change position on vaccines and autism
RFK Jr. has pointed to Denmark as a model for having fewer routine vaccines. But that’s a country with universal health care, that’s far smaller and less ethnically diverse than the U.S. A longstanding anti-vaxxer, RFK Jr. leaves out the pesky fact that most other wealthy countries vaccinate their children against 15 or more diseases. Reducing that number to 11 could turn the U.S. into one of the least protected wealthy countries when it comes to vaccine‑preventable diseases. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association and the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists are among the leading U.S. medical organizations warning that these unprecedented guidelines poses serious and unnecessary risks to children’s health.
Viruses don’t respect borders. To stop measles from spreading, about 95 per cent of people need to be vaccinated. In Canada, only about 79 per cent of children have had both doses of the MMR vaccine. After 12 months in a row of measles cases continuing to crop up, Canada officially lost its measles elimination status this past November.
Behind the comeback of measles in Canada
Once vaccines are no longer routine in the U.S., having to see a clinician becomes a real barrier, especially for parents juggling low wages, no paid sick leave, and loved ones to look after. It’s another barrier to getting immunized, and it will mean more cases in the U.S., with infections coming into Canada on flights and road trips.
Here are five practical steps – not slogans – that governments could take right now so that Canadian kids don’t pay the price for the vaccine culture war: First, we need to tighten school‑entry rules so vaccines are not optional. Non-medical exemptions should be exceptions – not routine alternatives to immunizations. Second, governments must make vaccines easy to receive at clinics and pharmacies, including on evenings and weekends. Third, we need to ensure newcomers, those living in rural areas, and Indigenous and faith-based communities have practical, local access to vaccines. Fourth, governments should create strong provincial vaccine registries to make it easier to spot gaps and notify families when shots are due. And finally, we must strengthen the voices of public health authorities, to more effectively call out misinformation using clear, evidence‑based messages and trusted messengers.
The science is clear. Vaccines save lives and prevent misery. But the politicization of health care has never been about the vaccines themselves. It’s really about political power – grabbing it and keeping it – at any cost. If it is to be shrugged off as “an American problem,” it won’t be long before the consequences landing in our pediatric wards.