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Purpose: Summarize current state actions and practical steps to maintain vaccine access and evidence-based practice for the 2026–27 respiratory virus season.
Click the orange button below to access CVEEP's vaccine locator tool and find nearby places that offer vaccines. Enter your ZIP code or city to see nearby pharmacies, health centers, and local health departments where you can get more information about vaccination and schedule an appointment.
Respiratory virus vaccines remain essential tools for preventing serious complications.
All adults, children, and families should stay up to date on recommended vaccines to keep themselves and their loved ones healthy. The AAFP has developed a suite of resources tailored to help you make confident, evidence-based vaccine recommendations.
August 26, 2026
Statement is attributed to:
Corinne Kohler, MD, FAAFP, President, Illinois Academy of Family Physicians
Anita Chandra-Puri, MD, FAAP, President, Illinois Chapter – American Academy of Pediatrics
Illinois Pediatricians and Family Physicians Stand Together for Evidence-Based Childhood Immunization
The Illinois Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (ICAAP) and Illinois Academy of Family Physicians (IAFP), representing physicians who care for children and families throughout Illinois, stand united in support of childhood immunization recommendations grounded in rigorous scientific evidence.
Recent federal efforts to significantly alter longstanding childhood vaccine recommendations, without new scientific evidence to support those changes, threaten to create more confusion at precisely the wrong time.
Vaccines are among the most thoroughly studied and effective tools available to prevent serious illness, disability and death. Decades of research and clinical experience support their safety and effectiveness. When children receive recommended immunizations on time, they receive protection when they need it most, and schools, families and communities are healthier and contagious diseases are harder to spread.
While the vast majority of parents still choose to vaccinate their children, any decline in vaccination rates is concerning. Vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles and whooping cough are resurging. Undermining confidence in proven science and evidence on the safety and effectiveness of immunizations carries serious public health consequences.
Illinois families should continue to have conversations with their pediatricians and family physicians and make health decisions based on trusted, evidence-based medical guidance, not rumors.
Our message to Illinois families is clear: We will continue to follow the evidence, answer your questions and advocate for the health and safety of your children.
