David Higgins, MD, MPH

"It wasn't the science, it was how we communicated it." I sat down with Dr. Paul Offit for my latest conversation in a series on the next era of vaccine governance. Read the full conversation at Community Immunity. #vaccines #trust

communityimmunity.substack.com/p/the-scienc...

Vaccine policy in the U.S. is at a pivotal moment and the conversation about what comes next can’t wait. www.cidrap.umn.edu/vaccine-inte...

Excited to announce: The Evidence Collective (TEC) and the Vaccine Integrity Project at CIDRAP are launching complementary initiatives on how the U.S. makes vaccine recommendations.

What if AI could have your difficult vaccine conversations for you? The moment you felt disagreement brewing, you could pass it off to the AI agent. Would you take that offer? I would not. Read my essay on why the hardest vaccine conversations should stay human. #communityimmunity #vaccines

Public health cannot ask for trust before it has earned it. NYC health commissioner Dr. Alister Martin says we must earn it by solving the problems people have right now. Read more from my interview on the next era of vaccine governance @Community Immunity. 🔗 👇

The anti-vaccine movement doesn’t sell alternative facts. It sells belonging. The tactics from 1896 and today are the same. What changed is the scale and erosion of communities that used to buffer it. It doesn’t matter how good our evidence is. People don’t adopt facts. They accept invitations

When I was a child, I was hospitalized with rotavirus. There was no vaccine then. There is one now. Social media is blaming this rotavirus season on vaccine hesitancy. The truth is more complicated. This is a structural problem. Missing that means investing in the wrong solutions. 🔗 Link below👇

This week’s AAP v. Kennedy ruling is worth celebrating. A federal judge blocked the Kennedy vaccine schedule and sent a clear message: you cannot bypass scientific and legal process and expect it to stand.🧵

The CDC website still shows Kennedy’s revised schedule today. An appeal is coming. Gaps remain — including how next year’s respiratory vaccine decisions get made without a lawful ACIP.

This week’s AAP v. Kennedy ruling is worth celebrating. A federal judge blocked the Kennedy vaccine schedule and sent a clear message: you cannot bypass scientific and legal process and expect it to stand.🧵

New in Community Immunity: The Roundup. Five things: new series on vaccine governance, school vaccine requirements, vaccine dismissal policies, ACIP prebunk, and the myth that won't die. Link below 👇 #vaccines #community #publichealth

New essay out in Community Immunity. It begins with a simple thought experiment: what if future leaders attempt to restore vaccine policy structures overnight? Would that rebuild trust — or deepen polarization? The way things were isn’t the way things can be anymore. #PublicHealth #Vaccines

When it comes to vaccines, what parents want has not changed. They want clear recommendations and honest explanations. They want reassurance that the advice they receive is grounded in their child’s best interest. And they want a trusted expert to help them navigate the noise.

New KFF data show trust in the CDC as a source of reliable vaccine information is now at a historic low following a recent overhaul to childhood vaccine recommendations. That matters because federal health leaders have explicitly justified their policy changes as necessary to restore public trust.🧵

Who do parents trust? Their child’s pediatrician. More than any federal agency, political figure, or influencer. Policy should strengthen that trusted relationship, not undermine it.

New KFF data show trust in the CDC as a source of reliable vaccine information is now at a historic low following a recent overhaul to childhood vaccine recommendations. That matters because federal health leaders have explicitly justified their policy changes as necessary to restore public trust.🧵

This year, trust in CDC vaccine guidance has fallen sharply to its lowest point in years. People who have heard of recent changes to the childhood vaccination schedule are twice as likely to say the changes will have a negative impact on kids than a positive one.

Preventing more diseases is a success, not a failure. This shouldn’t be controversial. open.substack.com/pub/communit... #Vaccines ##PreventDisease