1. United States
2. Wash.
3. Letter

I am writing about the vaccine injury compensation program, which plays a crucial role of maintaining a stable supply of childhood vaccines in the United States. Health and Human Services secretary, Kennedy has been threatening to overhaul and dismantle this program, which brings risk to vaccine manufacturers out of the market and jeopardizes our access to life-saving immunizations that have prevented countless deaths and illnesses. In the past, there were lawsuits in the 1980s over vaccine in injuries, led manufacturers to abandon the US market one by one. this put a severe shortage of vaccines for things like whooping cough. Because of this, the compensation program was established with bipartisan support to address this crisis by providing no fault system for injury claims while maintaining legal protections for vaccine makers. Congress must act urgently to safeguard the integrity of the vaccine and injury compensation program hearing should be held to require Health and Human Services secretary to justify any proposed changes with robust scientific evidence and data analysis demonstrating the actions will not stabilize vaccine supply and put American children’s health at risk. The stakes are too high to allow unilateral decisions that could cripple our nations vaccination infrastructure based on debunked claims and ideological motivations. Preserving this vital program must be an upmost priority to protect current and future generations.