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A draft strategic plan publicized by a federal autism committee last month outlines a framework for developing “precision” medical treatment and supporting better long-term care for autistic people — but, according to critics, makes no provision for studying a possible link between vaccines and autism.
The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC), which advises U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on autism policies, released the draft plan for public comment last month. The plan recommends defining autism as a condition that may have more than one cause, and that may lead to multiple medical conditions.
The draft plan is also linked to ongoing federal research examining the possible causes of autism and the reasons for its increased prevalence in the U.S. — rising from 1 in 150 children in 2000 to 1 in 31 children in 2022.
According to a statement by the Autism Action Network reviewed by The Defender, while the role of vaccines in autism “is the most contentious and important of the many unanswered questions about autism,” the draft strategic plan includes no mention of studying a possible link.
“Nowhere in the current draft … are ‘vaccines’ or ‘immunizations’ even mentioned, nor are they identified as research subjects for causing autism,” the statement reads.
According to the statement, the report cites environmental factors and medical products as possible factors contributing to the onset of autism. But while these are “broad categories which could include vaccines,” the plan lacks “unequivocal, explicit language” calling for vaccine-autism research.
However, a person familiar with the workings of the IACC who asked to remain anonymous told The Defender that “nothing is excluded and nothing is off the table.”
The source said it was “very important” for the committee to avoid focusing on any one particular potential cause, and for “multiple members of the committee not to be reductionistic and not to reduce autism to one cause or one factor, because I think it’s very clear at this point that this is a sort of a multifactorial process.”
The individual said that the community of autistic people and their caretakers is “drowning” — and requires care and support instead of negative attention.
“Our community is drowning. We have parents, support givers and caregivers who are just inundated with behavioral and caregiving stress … it was very important to the many members of the committee that we make headway on those areas without encountering the massive onslaught of negative attention and coverage that would come from naming any particular environmental exposure.”
Grace Davis Jamison, press secretary for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), said the agency, in collaboration with federal health agencies and academic partners, continues to study a possible vaccine-autism link.
“HHS, through scientists at the NIH, FDA, CDC, and in collaboration with academic partners, continues to conduct studies to better understand vaccine safety and effectiveness and to evaluate how cumulative vaccine exposure, especially during critical windows of development timing, and patterns may affect health across the lifespan,” Jamison said.
John Gilmore, one of the 29 new members of the IACC appointed to the committee earlier this year by Kennedy, called the report “a huge step forward.” However, he said it needs to specifically include a vaccine research component.
Clarifying that he was not speaking for the IACC, Gilmore said the IACC draft plan “approaches autism as a biologically based disability marked by a wide range of health issues integral to the disorder” and that it contains “groundbreaking detailed plans for researching the many unanswered questions about autism symptoms.”
IACC member Honey Rinicella, executive director of the Medical Academy of Pediatrics & Special Needs, said that while the plan does not specifically mention vaccines, it aims to study possible causes of autism using biological factors as a jumping-off point that can lead to many different conclusions.
“It recognizes autism as biologically heterogeneous and supports rigorous investigation into genetic, immune, metabolic, neurological, microbial, developmental, and environmental factors that may contribute to autism in different individuals.
“From my perspective, that framework is designed to better understand the underlying biology, the ‘why’ behind autism, by following the evidence wherever it leads, rather than limiting scientific inquiry to a predefined list of possible contributing factors.”
Rinicella, the mother of twins with a confirmed vaccine injury, said she understands “why some families have expressed concern that vaccines are not specifically named” and says that this issue is “deeply important” for her.
She said:
“My family’s experience is one reason I believe no scientifically plausible hypothesis should be excluded from rigorous scientific investigation before the evidence has been fully examined. Families are not asking science to reach predetermined conclusions. We are asking that science not predetermine which questions are allowed to be asked.”
According to Gilmore, resistance within the federal government and among many scientists in even considering vaccines as a possible contributor to autism has resulted in a possible reluctance to definitely state that vaccines are being studied as a possible contributor to autism — obliging the IACC to approach the issue carefully.
“Researching vaccines and coming to the wrong conclusion is a guaranteed career-ending move for any scientist,” Gilmore said. “The only way this research will get done is if there is a clear demand for it and a plan including goals, methods and timelines,” Gilmore said.
Biologist Christina Parks, Ph.D., said it is “entirely reasonable to investigate whether specific medical interventions — including vaccines in genetically or metabolically susceptible individuals — could contribute to adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes in a subset of children. Asking that question is not anti-vaccine — it is pro-science.”
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‘We need to seize that opportunity’ to study vaccine-autism link
According to the Autism Action Network, the possible vaccine-autism link, once a “fringe concern,” has now “gone mainstream.” The organization cited a 2024 Gallup poll finding that 73% of parents of minor children and 64% of Americans believe vaccines cause autism or are unsure.
Despite this, “the federal government has done little research to resolve this question: only one vaccine has been studied, the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR), and one ingredient: thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative used in multidose vials,” the Autism Action Network stated.
The group called for studies examining all vaccines on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) routine childhood immunization schedule for a possible autism link, the “impact of simultaneous injection of multiple doses of vaccines,” and the “cumulative impact of the 90+ pre-natal and childhood doses” on the schedule, while comparing outcomes for vaccinated and unvaccinated kids.
The IACC developed its strategic plan in accordance with the Autism CARES Act of 2024, which funds federal autism activities, including the operation of IACC and ongoing federal research, through September 2029.
The act expanded the federal autism research agenda, under which the National Institutes of Health (NIH) last year launched a $50 million autism initiative to fund research into its causes. The draft strategic plan calls for linking federal autism research priorities to “NIH budget” planning.
In September 2025, HHS announced that it would study all possible causes of autism, including vaccines. That month, Kennedy said he was considering adding autism symptoms to the federal government’s National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.
In November 2025, the CDC revised its autism webpage to say there is no evidence supporting the blanket claim that vaccines do not cause autism — a significant shift from past messaging.
Reuters reported last month that Kennedy has prioritized federal research examining a possible link between vaccines and autism, and that Kennedy meets regularly with President Donald Trump to discuss vaccine-related policies and the possible link between vaccines and autism.
Reuters’ report was followed by a story in The Wall Street Journal late last month suggesting that Trump was pushing Kennedy to do more to investigate a possible link between vaccines and autism.
Parks welcomed these initiatives but said she has not seen “sufficient publicly available information to determine the actual status or scope of that research.”
“I have not seen clearly identified study protocols, principal investigators, participating institutions, funding announcements specific to these questions, enrollment criteria, comparison populations or projected completion dates,” she said, adding that while a vaccine-autism link may ultimately be disproven, it needs to be seriously considered.
“Families deserve rigorous, transparent, independent research that follows the evidence wherever it leads. If the evidence ultimately shows no association, that conclusion should come from careful investigation rather than from deciding in advance that the question should not be asked,” Parks said.
The draft strategic plan still has not been formally adopted. Members of the public have until Aug. 20 to submit public comments, in advance of the committee’s next meeting, which — after being postponed last month — is scheduled for Aug. 27.
Gilmore said there is “an opportunity now for the IACC strategic plan to address the most important issue concerning autism.”
“We need to seize that opportunity,” Gilmore said.
Related articles in The Defender
- IACC Calls for New Federal Autism Policies, ‘Precision’ Medical Treatment and Better Long-Term Care
- RFK Jr.’s New Autism Advisers Set Sights on ‘Many Unanswered Questions’
- RFK Jr. Lets Loose on CNN, Sportscaster Apologizes for Vilifying Unvaccinated — Is a COVID Reckoning on the Horizon?
- Disappointed Trump Pressed RFK Jr. to Find Link Between Vaccines and Autism, and Reduce Number of Shots Required for Kids
- Reuters Ran a Hit Piece on RFK Jr. — and Revealed How Hard He’s Worked to Reform Vaccine Policy
- 1 in 31 Kids Had Autism in 2022 — Up From 1 in 36 in 2020
