July 24, 2025
Contact: Erin Hemlin, APG Vice President of Communications
ehemlin@apg.org; Tel: (202) 770-1901
WASHINGTON — Patients should receive the influenza, COVID-19, and RSV vaccines endorsed by nearly 80 medical societies and other health care organizations for the forthcoming 2025-2026 respiratory virus season, America’s Physician Groups said today in issuing a new statement on the organization’s vaccine policy. The statement underscored the critical role of vaccines in preventing serious illness and death, and the importance of maintaining the robust scientific and regulatory system that provides “unbiased and proper review of scientific data related to vaccines.”
“Our more than 340 physician groups want to care for their patients and to answer any questions that they have the role of vaccines in reducing their risks for serious illness and death,” said APG’s President and CEO, Susan Dentzer. “The physicians and medical teams of APG’s member groups are always the best sources of information about vaccines for their patients and patients’ families.”
In issuing the new statement in advance of the respiratory viral season, APG noted that its members are committed to providing value-based health care and to being held fully accountable for costs and quality. An essential pillar of high value care is delivering evidence-based preventive care, such as vaccines, thus making these critical interventions “the epitome of value-based care,” the statement said. The robust scientific and regulatory system in place in the United States “ensures that all recommended vaccines are safe and effective and that recommendations regarding their use are updated regularly based on the latest safety data and scientific evidence.”
APG also noted its concern about recent changes made in the composition of one key element of this robust regulatory system: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. “A well-vetted and credentialed panel was summarily dismissed and replaced for no creditable reason,” the statement said. “It is critical that CDC’s leadership, and the U.S. government overall, are counseled by independent advisors who have demonstrated expertise in vaccine science” and who can provide the requisite unbiased review of scientific data.
Citing the dangers of respiratory illness, APG pointed to CDC data that show that, between October 2024 and the late spring of 2025, between 33,000 to 52,000 Americans died of COVID-19; between 27,000 and 130,000 Americans died of influenza, and 10,000 to 23,000 Americans died of RSV. The overall burden of sickness is much higher, with an estimated 2 million Americans hospitalized for these conditions over the same period.
“Bearing this great a burden of illness isn’t just lamentable for individuals, but much of it was also preventable – adding unnecessarily to suffering and costs,” said Dentzer. “We hope that our newly adopted statement fully demonstrates APG groups’ dedication to following the science, caring for patients ethically, and living up to our wholehearted commitment to providing fully accountable health care.”
About America’s Physician Groups
APG’s approximately 340 physician groups comprise nearly 260,00 physicians and other clinicians providing care to nearly 90 million patients, including an estimated 1 in 4 Americans and 1 in 3 Medicare Advantage enrollees. APG’s motto, ‘Taking Responsibility for America’s Health,’ represents our members’ commitment to clinically integrated, coordinated, value-based health care in which physician groups are accountable for the costs and quality of patient care. Visit us at www.apg.org.
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