On Monday the top public health body in the U.S. slashed the number of vaccines recommended for children. The move came just weeks after President Donald Trump ordered health officials to align the country’s vaccine schedule with those of “peer, developed countries” and months of actions driven by Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic, that have undermined established vaccine science.
In practice, this means the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will no longer recommend shots to protect against 17 diseases; instead it will recommend vaccines against 11 illnesses. Experts say the changes, which are effective immediately, will endanger children.
“This is just a continuation of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s war against vaccines,” says Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center and a professor of pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
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“I think he’s just trying to make it so that the public perceives vaccines as optional, as something that you could reasonably choose not to get,” adds Offit, who used to sit on a CDC vaccine advisory panel before he was fired by Kennedy earlier this year. According to STAT, that panel wasn’t involved in Monday’s announcement.
The CDC now recommends that all children receive vaccines for polio, measles, mumps and rubella, chickenpox, Haemophilus influenzae type B, pneumococcal disease, human papillomavirus (HPV), tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis. High-risk groups or populations may also be recommended shots for dengue, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, meningococcal ACWY, meningococcal B and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. For other diseases, including rotavirus, COVID and the seasonal flu, the agency suggests people talk to their doctor.
“The data support a more focused schedule that protects children from the most serious infectious diseases while improving clarity, adherence, and public confidence,” acting CDC director Jim O’Neill said in the announcement. The announcement did not cite the data O’Neill referred to.
Private Affordable Care Act plans and federal insurance programs, including Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and the Vaccines for Children program, will continue to cover all vaccines recommended by the previous immunization schedule without out-of-pocket costs, according to a CDC fact sheet.
“This is [a] massive, unprecedented change that blows up decades of success with childhood vaccines, ultimately making it harder for Americans to access vaccines,” says Katelyn Jetelina, an epidemiologist who started and helps write the popular newsletter Your Local Epidemiologist. “Fewer children will be vaccinated and children will be harmed because of this decision.”
“This is a completely unscientific way of doing this, and it’s not evidence based,” says Angie Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan.
“People aren’t going to know what they’re supposed to do,” she says, adding that many people could end up not getting their shots on time.
The CDC’s shift from making vaccines such as the rotavirus or meningitis shot no longer routine but a matter of “shared clinical decision-making” is especially worrisome in the case of diseases that most people see as rare—a sense that stems directly from the success of the vaccines, says Peter Chin-Hong, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.
The U.S. has had “decades of success” in combating childhood disease, he says. The new policies threaten that legacy. “We had been the gold standard for the prevention of childhood diseases that other countries looked up to—until now.”
In a statement, the American Academy of Pediatrics denounced the move, stating that it will “sow further chaos and confusion and erode confidence in immunizations. This is no way to make our country healthier.” The organization said that it continued to support vaccination against the diseases dropped by the CDC and pledged to publish its own recommendations.
The decision is likely to be challenged in court.
Additional reporting by Tanya Lewis and Lauren Young.
Editor’s Note (1/5/26): This article was edited after posting to include updated information. It was previously updated earlier on January 5, 2026. This is a breaking news story and may be updated further.
