U.S. Chamber Letter on Scientific Review and American Medical Innovation

September 2, 2026 

The Honorable Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.   
The Secretary of Health and Human Services      
Washington, D.C. 20201

Dear Mr. Secretary,

The business community shares the Administration’s goal of ensuring Americans have access to safe, effective, and innovative healthcare. Regarding the President’s most recent Executive Order on childhood vaccines, signed August 10, 2026, it is critical that HHS’s next steps are firmly grounded in evidence-based science and maintain existing vaccine access and coverage. These objectives are key to providing credibility, clarity, and predictability for families, employers, physicians and other healthcare providers, insurers, and manufacturers.

The U.S. Chamber has long supported policies that encourage medical innovation while preserving appropriate protections for patients and manufacturers. The business community has a direct and substantial stake in federal vaccine policy. Our members create, manufacture, administer, and provide access to vaccines through insurance coverage — and the broader business community has a strong interest in the public health outcomes that a well-functioning vaccine system supports.

Vaccines are supported by a complex American research, manufacturing, and distribution system that depends on long-term investment and a stable regulatory and liability environment. Both the broader public health community and the business community have benefitted enormously from the rigorous scientific process and the evidence-based review and analysis conducted under the longstanding, credible processes of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).

Significant changes to federal vaccine recommendations without rigorous scientific review by trusted immunization experts would have substantial consequences not only for public health, but also for vaccine innovation, development, production, supply chains, coverage, and access. Over the past year, Americans have repeatedly indicated a strong preference for continued access to all recommended vaccines for themselves and their families. These factors must be carefully considered as the Administration evaluates potential changes.

Of particular concern are potential changes that could adjust the recommendations for routinely administered vaccines that have improved childhood health and outcomes across the country for decades. Such changes, if made without any evidence-based review or analysis under longstanding, credible processes of the CDC’s ACIP, would have the potential to increase confusion about what vaccines are available and are covered by public and private insurance, while decreasing access to critical public health tools that prevent pediatric death and illness. Any changes to vaccine recommendations can directly affect insurance coverage, cost, and access for employers and their employees — and the feasibility of implementation must be carefully taken into consideration. 

Additionally, any suggestion that there is a need to separate the MMR vaccine into individual components or increase the spacing of childhood immunizations raises significant feasibility and business concerns. There are currently no single-antigen MMR products approved in the United States. Developing such products would require significant new investment, clinical trials, regulatory review, manufacturing changes, and adjustments to distribution and supply chains—a process that could take up to 10 years to complete. Before taking concrete steps to pursue changes of this magnitude, HHS should establish a clear scientific and market basis for doing so and carefully evaluate the potential consequences for vaccine development, manufacturing, cost, coverage, supply chains, and patient access.

The Chamber encourages the Administration to engage trusted immunization experts under longstanding, credible review processes like the ACIP’s Evidence to Recommendation and Grade approaches to engage closely with physicians, researchers, employers, manufacturers, insurers, and other stakeholders and fully assess the scientific, economic, and operational implications of potential changes before moving forward on particular steps that may have untoward or unintended consequences. Any changes to federal vaccine policy should reflect thorough, informed deliberation and should preserve Americans’ timely and affordable access to vaccines and help to rebuild trust in immunizations, while providing the predictability and liability protections necessary to support continued investment and innovation in the United States.

Sincerely,

Lexi Branson

Vice President, Health Policy
U.S. Chamber of Commerce

About the author

Lexi Branson

Lexi Branson serves as Vice President of Health Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where she leads the Chamber’s Health Policy Division.

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