The Bizarre and Dangerous Concept of Over-Vaccination

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been obsessed for decades with reducing or eliminating childhood vaccinations. He has long seen them as very dangerous, even lethal. Recently, he has tried to stir anti-vaccination policies by claiming that children under 18 are receiving an incredible number of shots – 92 – if they comply with current federal and expert professional association recommendations.

What is utterly ridiculous about his argument is that it rests on the idea that kids in the United States are over-vaccinated. Not only does this argument rest on false claims about current practices it also relies on the idea that kids getting a lot of vaccines is inherently bad. Vaccination is inherently good – it has saved 150 million children’s lives worldwide. Vaccines prevent illness and death and therefore it is very ethical to vaccinate children.

So, what about the actual facts concerning childhood vaccinations? Do kids get as many vaccines as Kennedy claims? No.

Nearly all American children receive 30 vaccinations against 16 diseases. This excludes annual flu shots which, sadly, most