Overview
- The West Coast Health Alliance of California, Washington, Oregon and Hawaii formally restated that vaccines do not cause autism, directly countering the CDC webpage revision made in November.
- On or about Nov. 19, the CDC changed its vaccine-safety page to say the claim that vaccines do not cause autism is not evidence-based because studies have not ruled out a possible infant association.
- HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. directed the messaging shift, pledged funding for new vaccine–autism studies and installed Dr. Ralph Abraham, criticized for vaccine-skeptical positions, as CDC principal deputy.
- Major medical and autism groups, including the American Medical Association and the Autism Science Foundation, denounced the change and warned it could undermine confidence in immunization.
- Debate continues as some commentators call the update a move toward scientific precision, while extensive epidemiological research cited by critics has repeatedly found no causal link between vaccines and autism.