Chair of CDC's vaccine advisory committee questions polio shot recommendation

ABC News • January 27, 2026 • health

Key Points:

Dr. Kirk Milhoan, newly appointed chair of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, questioned the necessity of broad vaccine mandates for diseases like polio and measles, advocating for individual patient-doctor decision-making instead of mandates.
Milhoan suggested that improved sanitation and current herd immunity might reduce the need for vaccines like polio, and also questioned the ongoing necessity of the MMR vaccine, despite recent measles outbreaks and deaths in the U.S.
His comments were met with strong criticism from medical experts, including Dr. Paul Offit, who refuted Milhoan’s claims about sanitation effects on polio and the effectiveness of measles treatment, emphasizing that vaccine-preventable diseases remain serious threats.
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