Overview

• Robert F. Kennedy Jr. alleged in an Aug. 8 video that doctors are paid to vaccinate rather than evaluate, but interviews with pediatricians and a cost review show little to no profit from childhood shots.
• Practices shoulder expenses for medical-grade refrigeration, insurance, continuous temperature monitoring, backup power and nursing time to administer vaccines.
• The federal Vaccines for Children program provides doses for eligible children, yet overhead and Medicaid reimbursement shortfalls often mean providers lose money on those vaccinations.
• Profitability varies by setting, with large health systems sometimes earning a small margin while many small or rural practices report breaking even or taking losses.
• Clinicians say they follow American Academy of Pediatrics and CDC schedules based on decades of safety data, noting true medical contraindications affect fewer than 1% of children.