Internists Support Bill to Improve Vaccine Rates Across Country

Statement attributable to:
Robert McLean, MD, FACP
President, American College of Physicians

Washington, DC (May 23, 2019) — The American College of Physicians (ACP) strongly supports the Vaccine Awareness Campaign to Champion Immunization Nationally and Enhance Safety (VACCINES) Act, which would provide federal funding for vaccine hesitancy surveillance at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and outline a national public messaging campaign informed by this research to help improve vaccination rates. ACP firmly believes allowing exemptions based on non-medical reasons poses a risk to the publics’ health.

As a physician, I’ve seen first-hand how vaccines save lives and make patients healthier by preventing life-threatening diseases and illnesses. Vaccines, which have been repeatedly demonstrated to be safe, have been part of the fabric of our society for decades and are one of the most significant medical innovations of our time—to undermine them would be to put the publics’ health at risk, as well as individuals who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.

ACP applauds Rep. Kim Schrier, MD (D-WA) and Rep. Michael Burgess, MD (R-TX), along with Reps. Eliot Engel (D-NY), Brett Guthrie (R-KY), Kurt Schrader (D-OR), and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) for advancing this important legislation that will protect patients by improving vaccination rates.

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About the American College of Physicians
The American College of Physicians is the largest medical specialty organization in the United States with members in more than 145 countries worldwide. ACP membership includes 154,000 internal medicine physicians (internists), related subspecialists, and medical students. Internal medicine physicians are specialists who apply scientific knowledge and clinical expertise to the diagnosis, treatment, and compassionate care of adults across the spectrum from health to complex illness. Follow ACP on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.