Vaccines, Trust, and the Unvaccinated Child with Dr. Paul Offit

About this episode

What does declining confidence in childhood vaccines mean for the child with fever in the pediatric ED? Dr. Bob Belfer speaks with pediatric infectious disease physician and vaccine expert Dr. Paul Offit about vaccine hesitancy in 2026. Using the framework of confidence, complacency, and convenience, they explore how the COVID era changed public trust and why the consequences of vaccine decisions can fade from memory when vaccines succeed. They revisit Andrew Wakefield’s retracted MMR paper and discuss a recent study of more than 2.5 million U.S. children that found no association between MMR vaccination and autism. Dr. Offit explains the purpose of the National Vaccine Injury Compensation…