Jay N. Gordon (born 1948) is an American pediatrician, lecturer, and author. He is well-known within the anti-vaccine movement for his promotion of vaccine hesitancy.[1][2] He does encourage vaccinating but at the discretion of the parent. He is also a long-time advocate of breastfeeding; he became a member of the International Health Advisory Council of the La Leche League in 2005.[3][4]
Gordon claims that, to an individual child, the risks of vaccination often outweigh its benefits. Therefore, he stopped following the recommended vaccine schedule for his patients in 1980, although he still administers vaccinations to some children on a case-by-case basis.[1] Gordon has cited the debunked connection between vaccines and autism among the alleged risks to children that prevent him from routinely administering vaccinations.[1] He has signed hundreds of personal-belief exemptions to school vaccine requirements.[7]
In a 2015 interview with Ben TracyofCBS News, Gordon was asked about the risk of contagion should someone with measles walk into his office, given that most of his patients delay or avoid the measles vaccine. Gordon responded: "You just said it, they'd get measles. Not meningitis, not the plague, not Ebola, they'd get measles. Measles is almost an [sic] always a benign childhood illness."[7] However, Deborah Lehman at Cedars Sinai Medical Center says: "People don't remember children staying in dark rooms because they have measles and the light hurts their eyes and developing brain swelling and serious developmental problems, we've given people a false sense of security and it's situations like this, outbreaks like this [Disneyland measles outbreak] that really remind us of the importance of these diseases and really the benefit of vaccine [sic]."[7]
As of 2021, Dr. Gordon supports the COVID vaccine for eligible children and adults. “Vaccine immunity is better than disease immunity. “
