National Medical Association Rejects Proposal to Make Life-Saving Vaccines Optional
For Immediate Release:
January 23, 2026
Statement attributable to:
126th President, National Medical Association
The National Medical Association (NMA) strongly disagrees with recent comments from the Chair of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) suggesting that vaccines for polio, measles, and other infectious diseases should be optional.
Undercutting routine vaccination places the public at serious risk and threatens decades of progress in preventing disease, disability, and death. The measles and polio vaccines represent extraordinary public health achievements. Before the polio vaccine was widely administered in the United States, the virus caused approximately 15,000 cases of paralysis each year, primarily among children.
Any policy approach that would again place Americans at risk of paralysis from a completely preventable disease is irresponsible. As physicians committed to science and evidence-based medicine, we know there is no cure for paralytic polio. Treatment is limited to supportive care and rehabilitation. Prevention through vaccination remains the most effective and proven protection and has been validated through decades of use and research.
We urge lawmakers to intervene to prevent further erosion of our nation’s public health infrastructure. Framing vaccination solely as an individual choice ignores the collective impact on communities. It also places the most vulnerable, including infants, immunocompromised individuals, and those who cannot be vaccinated, at unnecessary risk from diseases we have already learned how to effectively prevent.
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About the National Medical Association:
The National Medical Association is the nation’s oldest and largest organization representing Black physicians and health professionals in the U.S. and promotes the collective interests of physicians and patients of African descent. We serve as the voice of Black physicians and a leading voice for parity in medicine, elimination of health disparities and promotion of optimal health. To learn more about the NMA, please visit https://www.nmanet.org/.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Jaylen Christie
850-556-4924
jaylen@bdaviscomm.com
