The United States took the unprecedented step Monday of reducing the number of vaccines it recommends for each child, reducing protection against half a dozen diseases, a move criticized by the country’s pediatricians.
The overhaul takes effect immediately, meaning the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will now recommend vaccines for 11 diseases. What is no longer widely recommended is protection against influenza, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, certain forms of meningitis or RSV. Instead, protections against these diseases are only recommended for certain groups deemed high risk, or if their doctors recommend them through what’s called “shared decision-making.”
Trump administration officials said the overhaul, a measure long sought by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., would not result in the loss of access to vaccines for families who want access, and said insurance would continue to pay. But medical experts say the move increases confusion among parents and could increase the number of preventable illnesses.
The change came after President Donald Trump in December asked the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to review how peer countries approach vaccine recommendations and consider revising its guidelines to align with theirs.
HHS said its comparison with 20 peer countries found the United States was an “outlier” both in the number of vaccinations and the number of doses recommended for all children. Agency officials presented the change as a way to increase public confidence by recommending only children receive the most important vaccines.
Among those that remain on the recommended list for everyone are measles, whooping cough, polio, tetanus, chickenpox and HPV.
“This decision protects children, respects families and restores confidence in public health,” Kennedy said in a statement Monday.
Medical experts disagree, saying change without public debate or transparent review of data would put children at risk.
Dr. Sean O’Leary of the American Academy of Pediatrics said countries carefully consider vaccine recommendations based on disease levels in their populations and health systems.
“You can’t just copy and paste public health and that’s what they seem to be doing here,” O’Leary said. “Children’s health and lives are literally at stake.”
The new guidelines also reduce the number of recommended human papillomavirus vaccine doses from two or three shots to one for most children, depending on age.
The decision was made without input from an advisory committee that typically consults on the vaccination schedule, senior HHS officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the changes.
“Abandoning recommendations for vaccines that prevent influenza, hepatitis and rotavirus, and changing recommendations for HPV without a public process to weigh 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.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
