CDC Drastically Overhauls Childhood Vaccine Schedule

The federal government took the unprecedented step Monday of dropping the number of vaccines it recommends for every child—leaving other immunizations, such as flu shots, open to families to choose but without clear guidance. Officials said the overhaul to the federal vaccine schedule won't result in any families losing access or insurance coverage for vaccines, but medical experts slammed the move, saying it could lead to reduced uptake of important vaccinations and increase disease, the AP reports. The number of recommended shots has been cut from 17 to 10, reports the BBC.

• The change, which officials acknowledged was made without input from an advisory committee that typically consults on the vaccine schedule, came after President Trump in December asked the US Department of Health and Human Services to review how peer nations approach vaccine recommendations and consider revising its guidance to align with theirs.

• Under the change, the US vaccine schedule will closely resemble that of Denmark, which recommends vaccines for 11 diseases, NBC News reports. Researcher Anders Hviid, however, who found no link between aluminum in vaccines and disorders including autism, noted last month that Denmark has free and universal health care, meaning there is less risk of serious outcomes from diseases it doesn't vaccinate against.
• HHS said its comparison to 20 peer nations found that the US was an "outlier" in both the number of vaccinations and the number of doses it recommended to all children. Officials with the agency framed the change as a way to increase public trust by recommending only the most important vaccinations for children.
• The CDC will still recommend vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella, polio, pertussis, tetanus, diphtheria, Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib), pneumococcal disease, HPV, and chickenpox, NBC reports. Others, including RSV, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, dengue and two forms of bacterial meningitis will be recommended for high-risk groups. Other vaccines, including flu and COVID shots, will be recommended based on what the CDC calls "shared clinical decision-making."

• "This decision protects children, respects families, and rebuilds trust in public health," Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist, said in a statement Monday.
• Medical experts disagreed, saying the change without public discussion or a transparent review of the data would put children at risk. "Abandoning recommendations for vaccines that prevent influenza, hepatitis, and rotavirus, and changing the recommendation for HPV without a public process to weigh the risks and benefits, will lead to more hospitalizations and preventable deaths among American children," said Michael Osterholm of the Vaccine Integrity Project, based at the University of Minnesota.