Childhood Vaccine Schedule

I am profoundly concerned that these changes will disproportionately and negatively impact the marginalized and vulnerable. When public health policy wavers, it is always those with the least who suffer the most - Professor Raman Bedi, President-elect of the WFPHA and Emeritus Professor at King’s College London

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Protecting Our Future: Why the U.S. Childhood Vaccine Schedule Overhaul Risks Global Health

Childhood immunization schedules are among the most rigorously tested and monitored public health interventions in history. Built on decades of scientific evidence and comprehensive safety surveillance, these schedules have saved millions of lives. Altering them without a transparent, evidence-based justification puts child health and public trust at serious risk. The proposed overhaul will not affect all children equally. Those from low-income families, rural areas, and racial or ethnic minority communities will bear the heaviest burden. In the U.S., vaccination rates already show disparities; for example, data have historically demonstrated that children living below the federal poverty level…

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Defying CDC, Pediatricians Recommend All Kids Get Vaccinations Against 18 Diseases

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends children be vaccinated against 18 diseases, more than the U.S. government directs after it overhauled its schedule. The doctors group, which released its recommendations Monday, kept its guidance largely unchanged from its previous version from last year. The group said it doesn’t endorse the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s childhood-vaccine schedule. The agency now recommends all children get vaccinated against 11 diseases.

What do the new U.S. vaccine recommendations mean for parents and children?

What struck me most was how much this process felt like it happened in the dark. You know, major changes to a national immunization schedule do happen. We update in light of new evidence all the time. But the changes are usually debated in public with input from pediatricians, immunologists, epidemiologists and other clinicians—and we just didn’t see that kind of open process here. We didn’t see those types of deliberations, or an accompanying evidence summary that the public can scrutinize, in a way that this type of situation demands.

Articles of Interest

Big changes to the CDC’s childhood vaccine schedule: What you need to know

This week, the CDC changed the agency’s recommended childhood vaccine schedule to nearly match that of Denmark, a country that bears little similarity to the U.S. in population, health care system, and public health approach. The move shifts six vaccines from “recommended” to “shared clinical decision-making.”

How Parents Are Navigating New Vaccine Recommendations

Some are abandoning the C.D.C. as a source of information in favor of the American Academy of Pediatrics, which is sticking with a broader vaccine schedule. Others are agonizing over where to turn and said the autonomy Mr. Kennedy was advertising, for parents to determine which vaccines were right for their children, felt like a burden.

No evidence that the US childhood vaccine schedule saves lives

No vaccine schedule anywhere in the world has been shown to reduce mortality or morbidity. We are injecting kids worldwide without a single supportive scientific study.

Restoring the Balance Between Children’s Interests and Public Health: A Commonsense Agenda for Childhood Vaccines

The burgeoning childhood vaccine schedule and rising rates of autism-spectrum disorders, autoimmune disease, and immune-related illnesses in children have created a climate of concern about routine vaccines that has led to a decline in rates of childhood vaccination and trust in public health authorities.

The CDC just sidelined these childhood vaccines. Here's what they prevent

Just three of the six immunizations the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it will no longer routinely recommend — against hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and rotavirus — have prevented nearly 2 million hospitalizations and more than 90,000 deaths in the past 30 years, according to the CDC's own publications. Vaccines against the three diseases, as well as those against respiratory syncytial virus, meningococcal disease, flu, and COVID, are now recommended only for children at high risk of serious illness or after "shared clinical decision-making," or consultation between doctors and parents.

The myth of an over-vaccinated America: The US DOES follow global consensus

We’re hearing a lot about Denmark these days, because the country vaccinates its children against fewer disease threats. And for the political appointees currently running our federal health agencies, that’s an attractive proposal and a way to achieve a longtime, ideological goal—fewer vaccinations. Unfortunately for Americans, this drive has nothing to do with decades of scientific evidence, which indicates that our schedule leads to better health outcomes. It has everything to do with our current leadership’s anti-vaccine dogma.

The New Federal Vaccine Schedule for Children: What Changed and What Are the Implications?

The new schedule positions the U.S. as an outlier among peer nations in routinely recommending so few vaccines for children. One of the main reasons cited for the new schedule was that the U.S. was an outlier compared to peer countries in recommending so many routine vaccinations for children. Denmark was cited, both at a recent federal advisory committee meeting and in the HHS decision memo, as a model for the U.S. to emulate. The changes made now closely align the U.S. with Denmark (with the only difference being the varicella vaccine which is recommended by the U.S. but not Denmark).

U.S. Overhauls Immunization Schedule for Kids, Removing Recommendations for Vaccines Against the Flu, RSV and More

Effective immediately, the CDC no longer recommends that every child receive immunizations for hepatitis A, hepatitis B (removed in mid-December), influenza, meningitis, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) or rotavirus. Instead, the agency now recommends that only “high-risk” children get vaccinated for most of those diseases. The parents of other children, the CDC advises, should consult with their doctor about whether to get the shots under a framework called “shared clinical decision-making.” “This decision protects children, respects families and rebuilds trust in public health,” says Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of Health and Human Services, in a statement.

What Parents Need to Know About the Immunization Schedule for Kids

Right off the bat you should know that one of the best ways to keep your kids safe is to follow the recommended immunization schedule. Delaying vaccines for any reason only puts people—especially unvaccinated children—at risk of contracting harmful or even deadly diseases.

What parents should know about the new childhood immunization schedule

The new vaccine schedule reduces the number of diseases covered by recommended childhood vaccines from 17 to 11. It also divides vaccines into several categories...

What the New Childhood Vaccine Schedule Means for You

Children in the U.S. have traditionally received 17 immunizations from birth to age 18 to protect against many infectious diseases. The new guidelines no longer recommend six of them for all children: COVID-19, seasonal flu, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and rotavirus. Instead, the government says these immunizations should either be given to those at high risk for the respective diseases, or after children’s parents and doctors discuss the benefits and risks and decide the vaccines are appropriate—something called shared clinical decision-making.

What to Know About the New Childhood Vaccine Schedule

The U.S. federal government slashed the number of diseases that all children are advised to be vaccinated against to 11 from 17.

What to Know About the Vaccines Cut From C.D.C. Recommendations

The agency no longer recommends vaccination against hepatitis A, hepatitis B, influenza, meningitis, respiratory syncytial virus and rotavirus except for “high risk” children or under a framework called shared clinical decision making, which allows parents to get their child a shot after consulting with a medical provider. The C.D.C. said the decision was intended to align the U.S. schedule with those of other wealthy countries, especially Denmark. However, outside organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, continue to recommend the shots for all children.