Alister Martin, Commissioner of Health in NYC, Chief Executive Officer at A Healthier Democracy and Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Last week, I testified before the New York City Council for the first time as Commissioner.
The subject: childhood vaccines, and the federal administration’s campaign to undermine them.
I told them the truth: that we are living through one of the most dangerous moments in American public health history.
The federal administration has changed the childhood vaccine schedule, with no scientific justification, no transparency, and no warning.
They’ve defunded the CDC.
Withdrawn from the World Health Organization.
And launched campaigns that erode the public trust that keeps our children safe.
Let me be direct: there is no new science behind these changes.
What there is, is confusion.
And confusion costs lives.
So here’s what NYC is doing instead.
We sent guidance to over 47,000 New York City healthcare providers endorsing the American Academy of Pediatrics childhood vaccination schedule.
We became the first municipal health department in the country to join WHO’s Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network.
We invested $1 million in a paid media campaign (that launched today) promoting vaccine uptake, in English, Spanish, Haitian Creole, Russian, Ukrainian, and Yiddish.
And we joined the Northeast Public Health Collaborative, a regional alliance of states and cities sharing information, resources, and strategy across state lines.
97% of NYC public and charter school students are in compliance with immunization requirements.
That didn’t happen by accident.
It happened because of decades of trust-building between this department and the communities we serve.
We are the oldest and largest local health department in the United States. In the absence of federal leadership, we intend to be a source of truth, not just for New Yorkers, but for anyone who needs it.
No matter the political moment.”
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