Reactions to the CDC changing the childhood vaccine schedule

Following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's shake-up of the United States' childhood vaccine schedule, many experts and medical societies in the pediatric infectious diseases space have voiced their concerns with the vaccine recommendation changes.¹

RECAP: CDC changes childhood vaccine schedule

Fewer vaccines will be recommended to all children with the change, which features a 3-tiered approach that includes immunization recommendations for all children, those recommended for particular high-risk groups or populations, and those based on what the organization is calling "shared clinical decision-making."

• There are 11 vaccines that will continue to be recommended for all children, down from 18 in previous CDC recommendations.
• The CDC stated that all recommendations from the CDC prior to the update will continue to be fully covered by federal insurance programs.
• Hepatitis A and B, influenza, COVID-19, and other vaccines are part of the "shared clinical decision-making" category.

Click here for our full coverage of the updated CDC vaccine schedule following the change on January 5, 2026.

Reaction to updated CDC childhood vaccine schedule

Below, find several statements from vaccine experts and medical societies regarding the updated CDC recommendations.

Jesse Goodman, MD, MPH, director, Center on Medical Product Access, Safety and Stewardship; attending physician, Infectious Diseases, Georgetown University; Former chief scientist, FDA

Contemporary Pediatrics:

What is your initial reaction to swift changes announced by the HHS on the childhood vaccine schedule, including the changes to recommendations for all children, vs those in high-risk groups, and the “shared clinical decision-making” group?

Jesse Goodman, MD, MPH:

There is no reason whatsoever for the changes being made, and they will hurt America's children. These vaccines were all thoroughly studied and reviewed by experts before they were recommended for routine use by all children by prior Advisory Committees on Immunization Practices and CDC Directors because they help prevent serious diseases in children, and their benefits strongly outweigh any very rare risks.

Parents are always involved in decision-making, even for recommended vaccines, and removal of a positive recommendation implies there is not a strong reason to recommend any of them, which is false and misleading. This action will confuse parents about the benefits and safety of the vaccines, confuse them and the health system about their right to access without costs, and, ultimately, lead to less children being vaccinated and increases in all the diseases.
Contemporary Pediatrics:

How is this going to impact how doctors follow this guidance, and do you recommend your colleagues to follow other agency recommendations, as we’ve observed over the last year (AAP, IDSA, etc)?

Goodman:

Physicians will get many questions, and they and their offices will have to spend a great deal of additional time explaining their (as opposed to RFK Jr's) recommendations. I believe it is likely that AAP, ACOG, IDSA and other professional societies will continue to strongly recommend the vaccines as they have all been recommended for years, and nothing has changed, and I would urge that providers engage with and follow the advice of their professional organizations and other expert groups, given that HHS cannot now be trusted to make fact based recommendations to protect children.

Contemporary Pediatrics:

What else would you like to include related to this news?

Goodman:

This is a dark day for children and parents when the United States government removes recommendations for lifesaving vaccines, further eroding confidence, access and, in turn, uptake. As fewer children are immunized, more cases of disease will occur, and communities will be more at risk of outbreaks, as we are already seeing with measles, pertussis (whooping cough), and tetanus.

While rare, meningitis kills almost 15% of those infected and leaves a similar number of survivors with severe disability. Flu killed almost 300 children last year. Before there was rotavirus immunization, about 70,000 kids a year were hospitalized in the United States due to the virus. Hepatitis B used to infect thousands of infants and young children, many for life. Do we really want to reduce or remove protections against these and other diseases, when they have proven safe and effective for many years?

This change in recommendations actually makes the US like Denmark, but it is Denmark (and now the United States) that is an outlier among well-off nations (e.g, compared with Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Italy), most of which recommend most of the vaccines now being removed from United States recommendations.

Robert Hopkins, Jr., MD, medical director, National Foundation for Infectious Diseases

Comparing the United States childhood immunization schedule to that of Denmark or other countries ignores fundamental differences in population size, diversity, healthcare access, and infectious disease risk. These differences matter. United States immunization policies must be guided by a transparent, evidence-based process and grounded in United States epidemiology and real-world risk. As we are already seeing signs of a severe respiratory season, this is not the right time to make changes that are not supported by clear evidence. Last flu season, 280 United States children died from influenza—the highest toll in more than a decade. RSV remains the most common cause of hospitalization among United States infants.

The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) strongly recommends annual flu vaccination for everyone age 6 months and older, and RSV vaccination for all infants whose mothers did not receive an RSV vaccine during pregnancy. Adopting an immunization schedule designed for another country could put United States children at risk for serious, preventable diseases.

Andrew Racine, MD, PhD, FAAP, president, American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)

[The] announcement by federal health officials to arbitrarily stop recommending numerous routine childhood immunizations is dangerous and unnecessary. The longstanding, evidence-based approach that has guided the U.S. immunization review and recommendation process remains the best way to keep children healthy and protect against health complications and hospitalizations.

Said to be modeled in part after Denmark’s approach, the new recommendations issued today by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention no longer recommend routine immunization for many diseases with known impacts on America’s children, such as hepatitis A and B, rotavirus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), flu, and meningococcal disease. AAP continues to recommend that children be immunized against these diseases, and for good reason; thanks to widespread childhood immunizations, the United States has fewer pediatric hospitalizations and fewer children facing serious health challenges than we would without this community protection.

WATCH: How 2025 increased distrust in vaccines and what 2026 has in store

Though published prior to the updated CDC childhood vaccine schedule changes, the video above provides expert perspectives related to the changing aspect of vaccine coverage in the United States, vaccine hesitancy, and what providers are dealing with.²

Click play on the video above to watch our 2025 recap and what further may be in store as we begin 2026.

References:

1. Fitch J. CDC changes childhood vaccine schedule, recommends fewer vaccines for all children. Contemporary Pediatrics. Published January 5, 2026. https://www.contemporarypediatrics.com/view/cdc-changes-childhood-vaccine-schedule-recommends-fewer-vaccines-for-all-children
2. Fitch J. WATCH: How 2025 increased distrust in vaccines and what 2026 has in store. Contemporary Pediatrics. Published December 23, 2025. Accessed January 6, 2026. https://www.contemporarypediatrics.com/view/watch-how-2025-increased-distrust-in-vaccines-and-what-2026-has-in-store