There Is No Acceptable Loss of a Child

The newly-appointed Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) met on June 25 and 26, 2025. During the meeting, CDC scientists presented data on the impact of flu during the most recent flu season, including the record-breaking number of pediatric deaths due to flu in a non-pandemic year. Serese Marotta, Vaccinate Your Family’s Deputy CEO and mother who lost her child to flu in 2009, penned the following statement in response to the committee’s discussion. 

__

Like many of you, I was horrified and deeply disappointed by Dr. Robert Malone’s statement during ACIP that indicated 250 pediatric flu deaths this season were “a modest number.” As a scientist, a private citizen, and more importantly—a bereaved mother who lost my 5-year-old son, Joseph, to flu in 2009—I struggle to understand the heartlessness of his statement, especially as someone who has been entrusted with making decisions and providing guidance to help protect American children. This statement does the opposite. Among other things, this statement insinuates that there is an “acceptable loss” when it comes to vaccine-preventable diseases.

Let me briefly share how my life has changed since losing Joseph. Let me share how incredibly devastating it was to watch your child die in front of you in an ICU room. Let me share how incredibly hard it was to go home that morning to tell his 7-year-old sister that her little brother wasn’t ever coming home. Let me share what it felt like to walk into the funeral home holding my daughter’s hand and preparing her to see her brother laying in a small coffin. Let me share how painful it has been for my family each and every day to remember that Joseph is never going to graduate college, never going to get married, never going to have a chance to contribute to society. Let me share how sometimes my arms literally ache to hold him again and how my heart breaks over and over and over again because he is no longer here. Now multiply that by THOUSANDS of other parents who have lost a child to a vaccine-preventable disease over the years.

Our children are not statistics, Dr. Malone. They lived and they were a very important part of our lives. We will not let them be forgotten and we will not allow you to trivialize their existence. I will continue working alongside these parents and families to help protect public health because these losses are not acceptable. Words matter, Dr. Malone, as do the actions and decisions of the new ACIP members. Let us not forgot that lives are at stake and every life lost is a tragedy.

Read Joseph’s story here.

__

Read VYF’s statement following the June 2025 ACIP meeting, expressing our concern for the unacceptable standard of evidence used to justify recommendations.