Burcum: Running toward, not away from, the battle over vaccines

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes a mix of commentary online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

•••

A pioneering public health initiative with a Minnesotan in a leading role is normally cause for celebration. But the new Vaccine Integrity Project announcement last week from renowned infectious disease expert Mike Osterholm is also a moment for sober reflection.

Leading medical experts shouldn’t have to band together to push back against reckless vaccine rhetoric and maneuvers coming from unqualified political appointees at the highest levels of government. But here we are. Actions like the effort Osterholm is spearheading are sorely needed to meet this moment and safeguard vaccine use.

Vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — who is a lawyer and not a medical professional — runs the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. HHS is a sprawling agency with oversight over the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which have key complementary roles in vaccine approval and recommendations for use. Kennedy’s lofty position regrettably gives him a massive megaphone and the authority to shape vaccine policy and public opinion.

The measles outbreak that began in Texas and continues to spread offers a real-time reminder of the harm that can result from sowing doubts about routine childhood immunizations, which Kennedy has done for years. As of last Thursday, there have been 884 confirmed cases of measles nationally this year, reports the CDC. Of those cases, 97% occurred in the unvaccinated or in people whose shot status was unknown. There have been three confirmed deaths in this outbreak. By way of comparison, a total of 285 cases of measles were confirmed in the United States in 2024.

While Kennedy offered “qualified” support for measles vaccination in a recent interview, he couldn’t help but take a jab at the immunization a few moments later, claiming “We don’t know the risks of many of these products because they’re not safety tested.”

That statement is at odds with information from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and other trusted medical sources. It also reprehensibly plants seeds of hesitancy to dissuade people in the outbreak’s path from immunizing their children or getting an adult booster.

Kennedy has also continued to promote unproven vaccine alternatives to treat or prevent measles. More disturbingly, it appears he’s brought in an unqualified “researcher,” a man who Maryland authorities found had practiced medicine without a license, to manufacture a connection between the measles vaccine and autism despite reliable studies finding no link.

On social media and elsewhere, infectious disease experts such as Dr. Peter Hotez of the Baylor College of Medicine have fought a valiant battle against vaccine conspiracists. But we’re past the point where this effort can be waged individually. A high-profile organized effort of respected medical experts, like the Vaccine Integrity Project, is crucial.

It reflects well on our state that Osterholm, who founded the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), is one of the project’s champions. Not surprisingly, the project’s steering committee includes other world-class experts, including Dr. Margaret Hamburg, former FDA commissioner, and Dr. Harvey Fineberg, past president of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine, which was formerly known as the Institute of Medicine.

Osterholm also said he’s had “great support” from the U, which is commendable. Some universities have bowed to demands from the Trump administration or are seeking to keep a low profile. Courage is critical at this time. The Vaccine Integrity Project is running toward the battle, not running away. We need more such fearless leadership.

It’s not a surprise that Osterholm is involved. He was one of the first after the presidential election to sound the alarm about Kennedy. In a Nov. 20 New York Times commentary, Osterholm wrote how risky Kennedy’s appointment would be.

Of particular concern: Kennedy’s “potential to use the bully pulpit as secretary of health and human services to cast doubt on the efficacy of vaccines could mean that many people will skip their vaccinations, become sick from diseases we can prevent and die for no reason.”

More operational details about the Vaccine Integrity Project, funded by a grant from a Walmart heir, will come later this year as the steering committee evaluates the situation and engages professional medical associations to determine how best to provide the public with science-based information. Among the options: “establishing a network of subject matter experts to conduct vaccine evaluations and develop clinical guidelines based on rigorous and timely reviews,” according to a CIDRAP news release.

Another: “reviewing government decisions and messaging to provide clear, evidence-based information, where needed.”

Accountability is also a goal, Osterholm told me in a follow-up interview. Unreliable information “is not going to stand unchallenged,” he said.

One concern I have is the potential for confusion if public health recommendations from Kennedy are at odds with the Vaccine Integrity Project information. In an interview, Osterholm acknowledged this, saying, “This is hardly an ideal situation.”

But, he added, the alternative is not speaking out, leaving Kennedy and his ilk the only voices out there. Osterholm said that’s unacceptable, and preparations must be made for times when “official government information” does not reflect what the body of science says.

Kennedy’s agency has already fired back at Osterholm and the initiative. CNN asked HHS for a statement, and a spokesman derided the Vaccine Integrity Project as a “a self-appointed echo chamber masquerading as oversight.”

Osterholm, however, is battle-hardened public health warrior. The HHS blowback means the effort has struck a nerve, he told me, and he is not intimidated. As for motivation, Osterholm said all he has to do is look at the digital photo frame in his office displaying family snapshots. “Our kids’ and our grandkids’ lives depend on this,” he said.

The involvement of high-caliber health professionals like Osterholm, Hamburg and Fineberg speaks volumes not only about the need for the Vaccine Integrity Project but also the risks to public health posed by Kennedy and his dubious leadership team. I wish an initiative like this were not necessary, but it is. That world-class scientists are pushing back on public health issues while many politicians timidly sit on the sidelines is both reassuring and inspiring. It is far from hyperbole to say that life-or-death issues hang in the balance.