The Metropolitan Health Coalition is the latest group to take a strong public stance in support of vaccinations, in direct response to concerns that the federal government is restricting access and raising doubts.
“We are united behind a simple message: Get Vaccinated,” the group said in a statement Monday. The bill was signed by 20 public health leaders from some of the nation’s largest cities in both Democratic- and Republican-led states.
Vaccination has saved millions of lives, but declining vaccination rates across the country are making devastating diseases like measles and polio more likely to occur, the researchers wrote. They also noted that respiratory virus season, which will bring large waves of COVID-19 and influenza infections, is “rapidly approaching.”
“We are deeply concerned that too many federal officials are repeatedly making false claims about vaccines, which are directly contributing to these trends,” public health leaders said in a statement. “We are equally concerned about recent changes to recommended childhood and adult immunization schedules that unnecessarily limit access to vaccines.”
Vaccine advisers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted last month to not recommend the combination measles-mumps-rubella-varicella (MMRV) vaccine for children under 4 years old, and a new task force will be convened to conduct a broader assessment of the safety, effectiveness, timing, and whether the schedule of vaccinations for children and adolescents should be changed.
And during a recent Cabinet meeting, President Donald Trump made a number of false claims about vaccines given to children, including the number of vaccine doses and that infants receive 82 vaccines at a time.
As vaccinations become increasingly politicized, city health officials said they felt the need to speak out to protect their communities.
“We must make public health decisions based on data, not political ideology,” said Dr. Phil Huang, director of the Dallas County Department of Health and Human Services. “We have to represent that science and reason.”
Several major medical organizations have broken away from the CDC regarding vaccine guidance, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. And new public health organizations have been created in recent months to protect public health amid the turmoil at the federal level.
The Metropolitan Health Coalition, whose members represent about one-fifth of the U.S. population, has been exchanging ideas and collaborating to address public health threats for more than 20 years.
But “the threat is growing and becoming more complex,” said Dr. Raynard Washington, public health director for Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, which also has federal participation.
“There’s a lot of discussion going on about how we can get through and continue to ensure public safety in the absence of a strong federal public health system,” he said.
Consistency is important in public health, he said, and the federal structure helps facilitate that. But if you don’t have that, coordination is key.
Measles outbreaks are rapidly expanding in the upstate region of South Carolina, just about 100 miles from Charlotte.
“I have no intention of building a wall to prevent people from Mecklenburg from going to South Carolina or people from South Carolina from going to Mecklenburg County,” Washington said. “So as a nation, our local public health systems are only as strong as our weakest county or jurisdiction. The boundaries we have in practice are only administrative, so it’s important to ensure that we work together.”
In South Carolina, more than 100 unvaccinated students are in quarantine after contracting measles at school. This is one of the many reasons the Metropolitan Health Coalition emphasizes the importance of vaccination.
Vaccines “keep classrooms safe and schools open. They allow children to spend time with friends and enjoy the activities they love; they help parents and caregivers work to support their families,” the groups wrote in a new letter.
Experts say trust also plays an important role in public health, and city health leaders want to give their communities a sense of security.
“The CDC has traditionally been the pinnacle of public health science, but trust has been eroded as it now appears to be driven more by political ideology than actual data and science,” Professor Huang said. “We all need to come together to provide a reliable message based on data and science.”
A recent KFF poll found that public trust in the CDC is at its lowest since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Just half of U.S. adults say they trust authorities to provide reliable vaccine information, down from 57% in July 2024 and 63% in September.
“Despite all the confusion and mixed messages, we remain steadfast in our commitment to community health and are clear in our message about the importance of vaccination,” Huang said.
