Health officials slash number of childhood vaccines
US health officials slashed the number of vaccines routinely recommended for children on Monday, in a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s immunization policy.
In a release, the CDC said it had revised the childhood immunization schedule to bring the US more closely in line with 20 peer nations following a directive from President Donald Trump.
Under the new guidelines, vaccines including those protecting against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR), chickenpox, polio and HPV remain fully recommended.
But six commonly administered shots were listed under 'shared clinical decision-making', meaning doctors are now advised to discuss the risks and benefits of the jabs with parents.
These vaccines were the shots for rotavirus, Covid, the flu, meningococcal disease, hepatitis A and hepatitis B.
Overall, the total number of shots formally recommended on the childhood immunization schedule, for those aged zero to 18 years, has been cut from 17 to 11.
Health officials stressed that none of the vaccines were being withdrawn, and said insurance companies would continue to cover all immunizations, regardless of whether they fall under routine recommendation, shared decision-making or high-risk.
Robert F Kennedy Junior, the Health and Human Services Secretary, said in a statement that the move was meant to restore confidence in public health.
The US is preparing to drop vaccines from the childhood immunization schedule (stock image)
He said: 'President Trump directed us to examine how other developed nations protect their children and to take action if they are doing better.
'After an exhaustive review of the evidence, we are aligning the US childhood vaccine schedule with international consensus while strengthening transparency and informed consent.
'This decision protects children, respects families and rebuilds trust in public health.'
Acting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Jim O'Neill approved the updated guidelines Monday, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said.
Under the new schedule, the CDC continues to organize the childhood immunization schedule into three distinct categories: Vaccines recommended for all children, vaccines recommended for high-risk groups and vaccines based on shared clinical decision-making.
In the new schedule, the vaccines recommended for high-risk groups, and not all children, were the shots for RSV, the flu, meningococcal disease, dengue, hepatitis A and hepatitis B.
In the 2024 vaccination schedule, the Covid vaccine was the only shot that the CDC said should be administered based on shared clinical decision-making.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Junior is shown above at the official Make America Healthy Again summit in November last year
Dr Ronald Nahass, an infectious diseases specialist and president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), slammed today's announcement, saying it 'will make America sicker'.
He said: 'Upending long-standing vaccine recommendations without transparent public review and engagement with external experts will undermine confidence in vaccines with the likely outcome of decreasing vaccination rates and increasing disease.
'Making these changes amid ongoing outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases shows a disregard for the real confusion families already face.'
HHS said the new schedule was based on an assessment of the US vaccination schedule compared to that of 20 peer nations, including Denmark's, carried out by Martin Kulldorf and Tracy Beth Hoeg.
It said its assessment showed the US was a 'global outlier' in vaccination policy among other developed nations. In 2024, it said that the US recommended more childhood vaccinations than any peer nation, and more than twice as many as some European nations.
Some experts in the US have cautioned against comparisons with European nations, saying they are many times smaller, less diverse and tend to have public healthcare.
O'Neill said: 'After reviewing the evidence, I signed a decision memorandum accepting the assessment's recommendations.
'The data support a more focused schedule that protects children from the most serious infectious diseases while improving clarity, adherence and public confidence.'
The new schedule more closely matches European countries such as Denmark, which does not currently recommend childhood vaccinations against rotavirus, hepatitis A, meningococcal, flu, chickenpox or respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.
It comes one month after President Trump ordered the health department to review the childhood vaccination schedule.
Trump wrote on Truth Social at the time, following his executive order: 'It is ridiculous.
'That is why I have just signed a Presidential memorandum directing the Department of Health and Human Services to "FAST TRACK" a comprehensive evaluation of Vaccine Schedules from other Countries around the World, and better align the U.S. Vaccine Schedule.'
And amid a raging whooping cough outbreak in South Carolina, with its upstate region reporting 470 cases so far this year. Overall, the US reported nearly 28,000 cases of whooping cough in 2025, the second year in a row that the tally had topped 25,000 cases.
A measles outbreak is also ongoing in the US, with the total number of cases of the disease recorded in 2025 surpassing 2,000 for the first time in more than three decades.
Over the last two weeks of 2025, a total of 107 new cases were recorded, including Connecticut's first case of the disease since 2021.
