MIT Health is firmly committed to providing evidence-based, patient-centered care for all members of our community.
MIT Health will continue to follow an approach to childhood vaccination that is supported by established public health standards, robust clinical research, and medical consensus. Recent changes to the childhood immunization schedule, announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), do not alter our approach to pediatric and family care. We will continue to recommend and provide childhood vaccinations in alignment with immunization guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), whose recommendations are based on decades of rigorous research. Our vaccine recommendations are consistent with guidance from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and all recommended vaccines will continue to be fully covered by health insurance.
Childhood vaccination is safe and effective. Every vaccine undergoes rigorous clinical testing before being approved for routine use and continues to be monitored for safety by independent scientific institutions. As a result, routine immunization has drastically reduced the incidence of numerous serious diseases, preventing millions of cases of illness, disability, and death. Today, children are far less likely to become seriously ill from diseases that were once common in childhood.
Vaccination is important for protecting both individual children and their communities. It is estimated that routine vaccination prevents more than 24 million cases of serious childhood illness every year. Delaying or avoiding vaccination not only leaves individual children vulnerable but also undermines a crucial pillar of public health. By weakening community-wide protection, it places infants, older adults, and people with certain medical conditions at greater risk.
MIT Health’s unwavering commitment to the health and wellbeing of the MIT community is rooted in clinical excellence, transparency, and the trust we build with every patient. We recognize that changes in national guidance may raise questions for patients and families. Our clinicians remain available to discuss vaccine safety, effectiveness, and the importance of routine immunization, and to support informed, evidence-based decision-making.