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As pediatricians, pediatric providers and family physicians who care for Minnesota's children and families, we are deeply alarmed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s recent decision to fire all 17 members of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).

This abrupt and unprecedented decision removes a trusted group of scientists and physicians who have, for decades, helped shape our nation's vaccine guidance — guidance that protects the health and lives of children and families in Minnesota.

These experts review complex scientific data to make careful, evidence-based recommendations about which vaccines children should receive, when and how often. Removing them without cause — and without naming qualified replacements — leaves a dangerous gap in the system that Minnesotans rely on to keep themselves and their children safe.

The consequences are real. Vaccines are among the most powerful tools we have at our disposal to protect both children and adults from dangerous diseases. For example, over the past 30 years, routine childhood immunizations in the U.S. have prevented an estimated 500 million cases of illness, 32 million hospitalizations and more than 1 million deaths. Behind every statistic is a child who was spared from suffering, a family spared from grief.

The idea that politics — not science — should dictate vaccine policy puts that progress at risk. It undermines the public trust that pediatricians, pediatric providers and family practice doctors have worked for generations to earn, and it creates confusion at a time when families need clarity and confidence.

Parents deserve reliable, expert guidance to make the best decisions for theirs and their children's health. That guidance must come from independent scientists, doctors and providers — not political appointees or ideologues.

At a time when vaccine-preventable diseases like measles are returning to our state, we urge Minnesota's congressional delegation and the public to speak out and to demand that our national vaccine advisory committee remain what it has always been: a body of experienced medical professionals whose only priority is protecting public health — especially the health of our children.

Dr. Katie Smentek is president of the Minnesota Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Dr. Roli Dwivedi is president of the Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians. Ann Menier is president of the Minnesota Chapter of the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners.