https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5703667-kirk-milhoan-cdc-polio-vaccine/Kirk Milhoan, a pediatric cardiologist recently appointed as chair of a highly influential federal vaccine committee, questioned the need for immunizing against illnesses like polio in a podcast interview released Thursday.He argued that public health is not the “first order” of his group.Last month, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appointed Milhoan to be chair of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last month.Appearing on the podcast “Why Should I Trust You?” — which explores the gap between scientific data and public trust — Milhoan was asked to discuss how he views the efficacy and risk of vaccines like those for polio and measles, mumps and rubella (MMR).“As you look at polio, we need to not be afraid to consider that we are in a different time now than we were then,” he said. “Our sanitation is different, our risk of disease is different and so that those all play into the evaluation of whether this is worthwhile of taking a risk for a vaccine or not.”During the interview, Milhoan referred to school vaccine requirements as “authoritarian” but rejected the label of “anti-vaxxer.”Brinda Adhikari, one of the podcast co-hosts, noted many people consider both the MMR and polio vaccines as safe, particularly because of their significant “proven” history in helping to lower the rates of these diseases. Milhoan pushed back on this characterization.“I think that ‘proven’ might be a little bit harsh, a little bit stronger, for what it’s done because of the pre-vaccine decrease in incidence of disease, but I understand what you’re saying,” he said.
“Remember, we’re just an advisory panel. We can’t make any declarations. We can tell you what we believe the evidence shows and we try to do that as transparently and honestly as the data supports and present data,” Milhoan added.“But it’s been very important to us, members of committee, is that what we are doing is returning individual autonomy to the first order, not public health, but individual autonomy to the first order.”His comments come the same week that the U.S. hit 12 months of consistent domestic transmission of measles, potentially meaning the U.S. will lose its status as a country where the disease was eliminated. American health officials say they are coordinating with global health authorities but indicated they did not believe losing this status was significant.Journalist and co-host Tom Johnson asked Milhoan for his philosophy on individual autonomy, giving the example of one parent choosing not to get their child vaccinated against measles and that child subsequently passing the disease on to an immunocompromised child. He asked Milhoan where the line was for him when it came to individual autonomy and infringing on another person’s safety.“I would say I agree there’s, there are two different things at play here. We don’t take one over the other,” Milhoan said. “Let’s just flip that the other way around. What if the child gets a measles vaccine to protect your immunocompromised child and gets a negative consequence from that? Wasn’t that your child causing that child to be harmed?”Johnson pushed back on this, arguing that view depended on one’s belief that established science was incorrect. Milhoan responded that these were “hard decisions” and that he wouldn’t use “established science” because “we’ve gotten trouble with that.”
When Johnson noted that as ACIP chair, Milhoan would be asked review a significant amount of data when carrying out his duties, much of which has been built on long-established science, Milhoan dismissed this as “not science.”“Science is what I observe,” Milhoan said. “And is there a confirmation bias in what is established science?”
>>1481228Based. Trust the experts
>>1481228Where do they keep finding these fucking retards?
>>1481242Found the science denier
>>1481228Now these are experts I can trust
>>1481232The experts have already resigned, this dipshit doesn't even know what science is, or that it's entire purpose is eliminating bias.
>>1481253Found the retard that "did his own research"
>>1481248Science isn't the opinion of one moron, it is a generational, peer reviewed body of knowledge. This would be like calling someone who suits on flat-earthers a geography denier.
it's a shame that lil jon is a proverbial philosopher by comparison in this markedly anti-intellectual age
>>1481256We get it, you're a conspiracy theorist that thinks he knows better than the professionals
>>1481255You find a fucking mirror? Surprised you can stomach the sight of that stupid piece of shit.
>>1481258I'm literally a medical professional with a degree in micro, dipshit
>>1481260Kek, bro watched some Facebook moms and thinks he knows better than the CDC
>>1481262Oh shit he's got a PhD in reiki and healing crystals. KEK
>>1481228Time to invest in Iron Lungs
>>1481263You are clearly unburned with an abundance of education or you'd be able to see the bullshit too. You should see if you can take a bio 101 course.
>>1481267>unburned Definitely found the horsepaste enthusiast
>>1481265Is that what you think micro is? Your intellect is almost as impressively stunted as your dick.
>>1481269Post diploma, kek. Bro went it the joe rogan school of medicine
>>1481268Unburdened. Sorry, autocorrect fucked me. I'll take that over being a water-headed simpleton any day. What's your excuse?
>>1481270Joe Rogan would side with the anti-vaxxer, dipshit, what are you even on about?
>>1481228>He argued that public health is not the “first order” of his group.Jesus FUCKING christ.
>>1481272Correct, he would side with science deniers like (you)
>>1481273My body, my choice I can be a cripple if I wanna beIt's my right
>>1481232>Trust the expertsA pediatric cardiologist isn't an epidemiologist. He is literally not an expert on this.That is like saying you should trust a seismologist on global warming.
>>1481281Post diploma or gtfo
>>1481281We don't need an epidemiologist for polio, there hasn't been a polio epidemic for years. Checkmate lib
>>1481284>there hasn't been a polio epidemic for yearsCool! And why is that, anon?
>>1481293People shit in the toilet now, Ramesh
>>1481298Nope, not quite! Come on, you racist cunt, you can do it, you know this one. It’s starts with V!
>>1481293Most people can't afford to keep horses these days, and it's a nightmare to find a good grounds.
>>1481305You do realize polio is primarily spread from eating shit, yes? We don't have this problem in countries without large Indian populations
>>1481309Thank god I don't live in Texas
>>1481309>You do realize polio is primarily spread from eating shit, yes?No it isn't you retard. Did someone not fully wash their hands before handling anything that was then in contact with food? Infected. Did someone with it sneeze on something? Infected. Did you get coughed on? Infected.The only way to completely protect yourself from polio is to either completely isolate yourself or just get the fucking vaccine.
>>1481309>We don't have this problem in countries without large Indian populationsTwo things:1. India actually annihilated Polio in their country. They haven't had a single case since 2011.2. The US had a massive Indian population in the 1940s and 50s?
>>1481311>Polio is most commonly spread through the fecal-oral route (poop-to-hand-to-mouth).I understand this is hard for you to understand seeing as you were born in New Delhi
>>1481312Indians have developed immunity from centuries of direct exposure
>>1481313>>1481315No India eradicated it via a vaccination campaign. Do you want to be worse than India? By your own metric if we wind up with polio when they don't, we actually eat more shit than they do.
>>1481316I personally don't interact with jeets so I'm not worried about catching polio
Leave it to MAGA to insist that the eradication and prevention of a disease has nothing to do with the spread of a medicine designed to eradicate and prevent that disease, and everything to do with something something racism. You people are so god damn stupid. So unbelievably fucking dumb.
>>1481328>>1481317Why not use the full term, way to expose you're just a lazy racist and a phone poster.
>>1481330Wash your hands, filthy jeet
>>1481283I'm not asking you to trust me. I'm asking you to trust the experts. A thing you just advocated for.If your have a problem with people throwing your words back in your face, maybe you should shut the fuck up more.
>>1481332>A racist and a pussyClassic
>>1481317>>1481328>>1481332It's so fucking funny hearing this when India actually has Polio wiped out.
>>1481377Racism and stupidity go hand in hand.
>>1481377see >>1481315>>1481339cool, i trust the experts at the CDC. why are you denying science after it's been settled?
>>1481380Yeah that's not how polio works. They objectively wiped it out with vaccines. Just like we did, formerly.
Reminder to everyone that trolling and ironic shitposting are against Global Rules 3 and 6. Make the mods and jannies do their jobs by mass reporting posts like@1481232 (no (you) for you, cuntnugget)@1481248 (no (you) for you, cuntnugget)@1481249 (no (you) for you, cuntnugget)
>>1481400natural immunity to polio does exist. a population that is in constant exposure to fecal-oral conditions (india) is more likely to develop natural herd immunity to polio.
>>1481403That's not what happened though; the Indian government had a massive vaccination campaign for over a decade that eventually directly resulted in Polio being eradicated. You cannot eradicate Polio in a population without a vaccination campaign.
>>1481405wrong, basic first world sanitation eliminates the conditions necessary for polio exposure.
>>1481408Did we not have first world sanitation in the 1950s?
>>1481408>wrong, basic first world sanitation eliminates the conditions necessary for polio exposure.Why are we getting new polio cases and India isn't then?
>>1481411we imported 10-20 million third worlders in the last 4 years.
>>1481412Somehow they only got polio here?
>>1481414somalia still has ongoing polio outbreaks.
Ah yes, the old "why do we need IT security when our computers haven't gotten any viruses?"Truly running the government like a business.
>>1481425Yeah wrong again; Somalia's last case of Polio was in 2014.
I'm actually with the ESL retard on this one. Make vaccines optionalLet MAGA die off from easily preventable diseases they won't be able to handle because they killed off their health care and banished their doctors
>>1481232> Based. Trust the quacks.FTFY.
>>1481434>Somalia reported several cVDPV2 cases in recent years, including four new confirmations in early 2025 (all in Bari province, with paralysis onset in late 2024).>In 2024, the country had around 7–8 reported cVDPV2 cases.
>>1481437Oh, sorry, their last case of WILD Polio was in 2014. They still have some stragglers who didn't get vaccinated and get the other variant.>>In 2024, the country had around 7–8 reported cVDPV2 cases.>7-8>outbreakslmao.
>>1481442>General guides describe an outbreak as "one or more cases of polio in an area that has been polio-free for at least six months," but the modern operational threshold is effectively a single confirmed case (or detection) for response purposes.
>>1481443You're the one saying those single digit number of Somalians are the ones bringing it to the US.
>>1481444>incorrectly claims that migrants are arriving from countries without polio cases>incorrectly claims somali hasn't had outbreaks since 2014>tries semantic pendatry over definition of the word outbreak but gets btfo on that tooand now you're attempting a strawman of my original claim. if you're going to be bad faith you could at least be good at it
>>1481449Your original claim was we were getting third worlders and that was where the polio cases are from. Your evidence to support this is... 7-8 cases. Total.
>>1481451we have people pouring in from all over the world. 39 countries have had polio cases in the last 3 years.
>>1481452>39 countries have had polio cases in the last 3 years.Assuming they're not from Afghanistan or Pakistan, the only countries that still have wild Polio, each of those countries has active cases in the single digits. And those active cases are the vaccine deprived variant, which is not only incredibly rare (literally a 1 in a million chance of occurring, you have better odds of winning the lottery) but also only affects the unvaccinated or immunocompromised.
>>1481454and the US hasn't had a polio case since 2022, which ironically came from a vaccine derived strain.
>>1481461And now we're going to change that because the CDC has been hijacked by quacks. What do you think the end result of making the polio vaccine optional?
>>1481465it already is optional depending on the individual.
>>1481470Yeah if you wanna be a homeschooled retard who doesn't interact with society. Most people would rather do that.
>>1481473you're worried about polio but monkeypox is much more prevalent in recent times. the truth is most of these diseases can be easily avoided with basic social behavioral conditioning.
>>1481477>the truth is most of these diseases can be easily avoided with basic social behavioral conditioning.The truth is most of these disease can be easily eradicated with a vaccination campaign.
>>1481479are you monkeypox vaccinated?
>>1481480Yep.
>>1481485post proof
>>1481228>Kirk Milhoan, a pediatric cardiologisThis guy was my baby's doctor.
>>1481477You don't get monkeypox unless you're having sex with gay men, so it's not an epidemic. The gays swallow any vaccine they can get their hands on, they know the risks of their sex life
>>1481377Even more funny that he was so obnoxious that a mod actually came to /news/.
>>1482014Who? The "esl shill" guy?
