CDC Misleads the Public with New Autism & Vaccines Webpage

Tennessee Families for Vaccines (TNFV) stands with American Families for Vaccines (AFV) in expressing deep alarm at the CDC’s newly “updated” webpage titled “Autism and Vaccines,” which repeats long-disproven myths implying that infant vaccines cause autism.

The CDC now claims there isn’t solid evidence supporting the well-established fact that vaccines do not cause autism—despite decades of rigorous, peer-reviewed research showing no link between autism and the childhood vaccine schedule.

This reversal undermines public trust and gives oxygen to misinformation that puts families at risk. As Alison Singer, president of the Autism Science Foundation, said: “facts don’t change because the administration does.”

AFV President Northe Saunders put it plainly: “Disinformation of this kind doesn’t just confuse the public—it destabilizes the very policies we rely on to keep our communities safe from preventable diseases. When a federal public health agency lends unwarranted credibility to long-disproven myths, families lose trust, vaccine uptake declines, and the basic protections we count on begin to erode.”

Saunders also spoke to the harm done to autistic people: “Our autistic friends, family members, colleagues, and neighbors are loved, valued, and essential members of our communities. It is shameful that this politicized effort to mislead the American public about science and health drags autism into the conversation as a scare tactic. These false claims increase stigma, deepen misunderstanding, and delay the urgent work of advancing real research and real support for autistic people.”

Families deserve honesty. We deserve science we can trust. And we deserve a CDC that strengthens—not weakens—the systems that protect us from preventable disease.