WASHINGTON — The Trump administration announced this week that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated the childhood immunization schedule.
What You Need To Know
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The CDC has cut the number of vaccines routinely recommended for all children from 17 to 11.
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The new guidance no longer includes vaccines for flu, RSV, Hepatitis A and B, rotavirus, and some meningitis vaccines.
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Some vaccines are now recommended only for high-risk groups or when doctors and parents determine they are appropriate for the child.
“After an exhaustive review of the evidence, we are aligning the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule with international consensus while strengthening transparency and informed consent,” said U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine critic. “This decision protects children, respects families and rebuilds trust in public health.”
Dr. Brit Anderson, president of the Kentucky chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said she is concerned about the changes.
“I know that families, really, their top priority is keeping their children healthy, so when there’s changing recommendations like this that are not evidence-based, I worry about the confusion that leads to,” Anderson said. “I think there’s already some degree of confusion happening, and I think this just furthers that. We know that our vaccine schedule, our routine childhood immunization schedule, is safe and effective.”
Anderson plans to continue recommending the more expansive vaccine schedule endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Dr. Heather Felton of Norton Children’s Medical Group also supports the traditional schedule.
“I’ve used this entire schedule throughout my entire career and have vaccinated probably tens of thousands of children, who have done really well with those vaccines,” Felton said. “I’ve seen very little of these vaccine-preventable illnesses because of the schedule that we have been using.”
The Trump administration said parents who still want their children to receive certain vaccines will be able to do so, and insurance will continue to cover them.
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