Amid vaccine policy whiplash, here’s how a pediatrician talks to families

Amid vaccine policy whiplash, here's how a pediatrician talks to families Skip to content Subscribe today Every print subscription comes with full digital access Subscribe Now Menu All Topics Health Humans Anthropology Health & Medicine Archaeology Psychology View All Life Animals Plants Ecosystems Paleontology Neuroscience Genetics Microbes View All Earth Agriculture Climate Oceans Environment View All Physics Materials Science Quantum Physics Particle Physics View All Space Astronomy Planetary Science Cosmology View All Magazine Menu All Stories Multimedia Reviews Puzzles Collections Educator Portal Century of Science Unsung characters Coronavirus Outbreak Newsletters Investors Lab About SN Explores Our Store SIGN IN Donate Home INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM SINCE 1921 SIGN IN Search Open search Close search Home INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM SINCE 1921 All Topics Earth Agriculture Climate Oceans Environment Humans Anthropology Health & Medicine Archaeology Psychology Life Animals Plants Ecosystems Paleontology Neuroscience Genetics Microbes Physics Materials Science Quantum Physics Particle Physics Space Astronomy Planetary Science Cosmology Tech Computing Artificial Intelligence Chemistry Math Science & Society All Topics Health Humans Humans Anthropology Health & Medicine Archaeology Psychology Recent posts in Humans Health & Medicine Amid vaccine policy whiplash, here’s how a pediatrician talks to families By Aimee Cunningham11 hours ago Health & Medicine GLP-1 microdosers are chasing longevity By Jamie Ducharme17 hours ago Archaeology A new study questions when people first reached South America By Tom MetcalfeMarch 19, 2026 Life Life Animals Plants Ecosystems Paleontology Neuroscience Genetics Microbes Recent posts in Life Space How realistic is Project Hail Mary? 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Her career spans the introduction of numerous vaccines, a decline in infectious diseases — and a troubling rise in vaccine hesitancy. When, in January, the Trump administration slashed the number of recommended shots in the government’s childhood vaccination schedule, the rotavirus vaccine was among those demoted. O’Shea remembers when a vaccine wasn’t available. During her first month of graduate medical training in 1990, an infant died of diarrheal illness caused by rotavirus. To watch the child “waste away and die despite all our efforts,” she says, “it was so devastating.” Sign up for our newsletter We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday. But on March 16, a federal judge blocked the administration’s changes. And he didn’t mince words. “For our public health, Congress and the Executive have built — over decades — an apparatus that marries the rigors of science with the execution and force of the United States government,” U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy wrote in his opinion in American Academy of Pediatrics v. Robert F. Kennedy. Historically, decisions regarding vaccination policy have been made with “a method scientific in nature and codified into law through procedural requirements,” Murphy wrote. “Unfortunately, the Government has disregarded those methods and thereby undermined the integrity of its actions.” Along with restoring the number of vaccines that had previously been recommended, the judge also found that U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kennedy’s handpicked members on the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, or ACIP, were unlawfully appointed. That makes the group’s past decisions invalid. The Trump administration is expected to appeal. In the meantime, “this ruling is really important because it means that all kids can be protected from these [vaccine-preventable] illnesses at the times when they need to be most protected,” says O’Shea, who has advocated for children’s health with the AAP. “And it’s a real win for science too because it says you really do have to rely on science to make these decisions, and not just opinion.” O’Shea practices in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. For parents who are uncertain about vaccines, “I think validating their point of view, their information, is really important,” she says, along with sharing the science behind immunization. So too is recognizing the common ground she shares with families: keeping children healthy. In the past, the main query O’Shea got from parents was focused on whether vaccines were tied to autism, which was based on a study that had falsified data and was later retracted. But since Trump returned to office in 2025 and elevated Kennedy to HHS Secretary, she has noticed the range of concerns has expanded. The administration “is stoking a different type of uncertainty.” There’s “the toxin mindset,” she says, “which I think comes from a real place” of concern about what people see as exposure to chemicals. Some families worry that ther