An overhaul of US childhood immunisation guidelines has dropped the number of diseases children should be vaccinated against from 17 to 11.
The new list of recommended vaccines, issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday, includes polio and measles vaccines, but others, like hepatitis A and B, and Covid vaccines, are recommended based on risk and “shared clinical decision-making” between doctors and parents, the announcement said.
President Donald Trump praised the new recommendation saying it was “rooted in the gold standard of science”.
However, the American Academy of Pediatrics criticised the recommendation, describing it as “dangerous and unnecessary.”
The overhaul is the latest sweeping policy change made under the Trump administration spearheaded by health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.
“Many Americans, especially the “MAHA Moms,” have been praying for these COMMON SENSE reforms for many years,” Trump said in a statement online referring to the Make America Healthy Again slogan.
Kennedy, who has long been sceptical of vaccines, said the overhaul came “after an exhaustive review” and that it “protects children, respects families, and rebuilds trust in public health.”
“We are aligning the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule with international consensus while strengthening transparency and informed consent,” he added.
According to the CDC, the recommended vaccines for all children will include vaccines to protect against: measles, mumps, rubella, polio, pertussis, tetanus, diphtheria, Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib), pneumococcal disease, human papillomavirus (HPV), and varicella (chicken pox).
A second category of vaccines was recommended for children depending on risk factors. That includes vaccines for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), hepatitis A, hepatitis B, dengue, and meningococcal ACWY and meningococcal B – which protects against meningitis.
The third group of vaccines for Covid-19, influenza, and rotavirus has been left to parents and doctors to decide.
For now, insurance will continue to cover vaccines still recommended at the end of 2025.
The new recommendations were made in response to an executive order signed by President Trump in December, the US health department said. That order instructed US health officials to compare the country to “peer developed countries” and make recommendations.
The department says it compared the US to 20 nations included Britain, Canada, Denmark and Australia and found the US was “a global outlier” in the number of diseases covered and number of doses. It cited Denmark’s recommendation against 10 diseases as a model for the US. But that comparison was criticised by Dr. Andrew D. Racine, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
“The United States is not Denmark, and there is no reason to impose the Danish immunization schedule on America’s families. America is a unique country, and Denmark’s population, public health infrastructure, and disease-risk differ greatly from our own.”
Denmark’s population is around 6 million while the US has about 340 million people.
“At a time when parents, pediatricians and the public are looking for clear guidance and accurate information, this ill-considered decision will sow further chaos and confusion and erode confidence in immunizations,” Dr. Racine added. “This is no way to make our country healthier.”
Republican Senator Bill Cassiday from Louisiana, who is a doctor, also criticised the new recommendation.
“Changing the pediatric vaccine schedule based on no scientific input on safety risks and little transparency will cause unnecessary fear for patients and doctors, and will make America sicker,” he said in a statement.
Monday’s announcement came weeks after a CDC panel made a new recommendation about when children should receive the first hepatitis B vaccine. Previously, a first dose was recommended for babies within 24 hours of birth but the revised guidelines last December moved it to two months after birth if the mother was hepatitis B negative.
That recommendation was roundly criticised by paediatricians with the American Academy of Pediatrics describing it as “a dangerous move that will harm children”.
