U.S. vaccine rollback 'regressive,' requires Taiwan vigilance: Expert

Taipei, Dec. 7 (CNA) The United States' recent moves to scale back childhood vaccinations could create dangerous gaps in disease prevention, a former U.S. health official said, and he urged Taiwan to strengthen its diagnostic and monitoring systems.

Shieh Wun-ju (謝文儒), former deputy chief of the U.S. CDC's Infectious Disease Pathology Branch, was highly critical of the new U.S. vaccine policy at a Taipei Medical University alumni forum featuring 14 speakers in biotechnology, clinical innovation, and global health fields.

Shieh described as "entirely regressive" recommendations by a U.S. CDC advisory panel to stop administering the combined measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (MMRV) vaccine to children under four, and to end universal hepatitis B vaccination for newborns.

He said decades of evidence show that vaccines overwhelmingly benefit public health, yet U.S. health officials have increasingly skeptical views of preventive medicine, a shift he warned could weaken immunization coverage and undermine global disease-control efforts.

In just the first quarter of the 21st century, the world has already confronted multiple pandemics, including SARS, H1N1 influenza, COVID-19, and mpox, along with numerous localized outbreaks, and climate change and human mobility will only continue to elevate emerging infectious disease risks, Shieh cautioned.

Given that the U.S. is no longer a consistent leader -- or even a reliable participant -- in international public health, Shieh urged Taiwan to strengthen its own defenses by improving diagnostic capacity and expanding epidemiological monitoring to cope with future threats.

Shieh also criticized the current U.S. administration's "America First" approach, saying it has undermined the CDC's long-standing strategy of "fighting outbreaks abroad."

That strategy, according to Shieh, previously saw major U.S. investment in global cooperation, including support for Taiwan's establishment of its modern disease-control system.

A retreat from international engagement, he warned, narrowed the U.S. public-health outlook and reduced resources for global disease prevention, ultimately weakening collective defenses in an era of rapid cross-border travel.