Physician urges Americans to view vaccines as essential national defense
A family doctor, newly appointed to the AAFP Vaccine Science Fellowship, argues that vaccination is a patriotic duty and warns against lax mandates.
Drawing on personal ancestry and his role as a family physician, the author explains why he feels compelled to champion immunizations. He references a recent incident where a military installation suspended its influenza-vaccine rule, only to reinstate it after the virus spread and jeopardized readiness. The piece recalls the 1775 Continental Congress ban on smallpox inoculations, which cost thousands of lives until Washington mandated mass vaccination in 1777.
The writer criticizes current priorities that fund school security while allowing preventable illnesses to circulate among students. He calls out foreign and domestic misinformation campaigns that undermine trust in science, noting that physicians themselves have the highest vaccination rates for their children. Citing a recent statement by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., he stresses that even staunch skeptics now endorse measles shots amid record outbreaks. Finally, he urges citizens to view vaccines as a safeguard for liberty, health, and the republic.
Why it matters
Vaccination decisions affect public health, national security, and the functioning of democratic society.
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