When President Donald Trump claimed that babies are receiving “80 vaccines” in doses “like you give to a horse,” it left some Rochester physicians stunned.
“I’m actually flabbergasted,” said Dr. Geoff Weinberg, a pediatric infectious disease specialist with UR Medicine. “I don’t know where he gets the count of 80. I don’t know where we’re getting the comparison with horse vaccines.”
The comments came just days after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. implied before the U.S. Senate that COVID vaccines are more dangerous than the disease itself.
Doctors say these kinds of claims aren’t just wrong, they’re dangerous. Childhood vaccination rates are falling across the United States. NBC News reports that since 2019, more than three-quarters of American counties have seen declines. Some places have dropped 20 to 40 percentage points. The number of school children granted exemptions from vaccination requirements is rising, too.
So what’s true? Three Rochester-area doctors joined "Connections with Evan Dawson" to set the record straight: Dr. Weinberg, UR Medicine; Dr. Steven Schulz, Rochester Regional Health; and Dr. Ann Falsey, UR Medicine.
Myth #1: Children get 80 vaccines
“I don’t know where he gets the count of 80.”— Dr. Weinberg
Children do not receive 80 vaccines, or 80 shots.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine schedule, infants get approximately 10-15 injections in their first 2 years of life.
The recommended schedule is based on years of research and includes carefully timed doses to protect kids when they’re most vulnerable.
Myth #2: The vaccine schedule is arbitrary
“These vaccines were studied in the schedule they have … that’s how we know they work.”— Dr. Schulz
The timing of shots isn’t random. Researchers measure how children’s immune systems respond at different ages.
Delaying vaccines, as Trump has suggested, can be dangerous. “Many of these diseases are the most life-threatening in early childhood,” Weinberg said. “If we waited until everyone was 10 years old, many children would already have died.”
Myth #3: Vaccines don't even work
“Immunizations are incredibly effective and incredibly safe. I can’t get that across enough.”— Dr. Schulz
Some vaccines, like measles, are up to 97% effective. Others, like flu and COVID, have lower protection rates, but still reduce the risk of hospitalization and death.
“We’ve seen an increase in pediatric deaths from influenza in the past 3 or 4 years,” Schulz said, noting most of those children were unvaccinated.
And as myths about whether vaccines can be more harmful than the viruses themselves persist, doctors say that is also not the case.
“The vaccines on the market are far safer than if you take your chances with the illness,” Weinberg said. “If you're trying to provide the maximum safety to your child, I would always, every year, I would give them influenza vaccine and, now, COVID vaccine.”
Myth #4: Ingredients like mercury make vaccines unsafe
"Almost all vaccines are now mercury-free, although they never showed that it actually led to any harmful effects.”— Dr. Falsey
Today’s vaccines use fewer components and are more purified than older generations of vaccines. Combination shots also reduce the number of injections children need.
Why the confusion?
Doctors say misinformation spreads quickly, especially when amplified by public figures or social media.
“It creates fear and uncertainty in parents,” said Falsey, an infectious disease specialist. “Everybody can agree that the parents all want to do what’s best for their child.”
With misinformation spreading online, particularly on social media, parents can be left unsure of what’s fact and what’s fiction.
“They don't actually know what to trust anymore, and the traditional sources, the CDC, the FDA, NIH, the scientists and even their own doctors seem to not be able to reassure them,” she said.
Weinberg added that success can ironically fuel skepticism: “Our grandparents knew how dangerous measles and polio were.
“The very success of our vaccine campaigns and our immunization to try to prevent those diseases has led to the new generation of parents not understanding how serious and how possible these diseases are, because they haven't been close to it.”
What parents should know
The doctors agreed on a few key points:
- Vaccines are far safer than the diseases they prevent.
- Following the recommended schedule is critical for protecting children.
- COVID and flu vaccines may not prevent all infections, but they reduce severity and risk of death.
- Trusted sources remain pediatricians, the CDC, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
This conversation originally aired on WXXI’s Connections with Evan Dawson. You can listen to the full discussion here.
