HHS Prunes Childhood Vaccine Schedule From 18 Shots To 11

"On Monday, HHS Deputy Secretary and acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Jim O'Neill signed a memo ordering the CDC to change its childhood vaccine recommendations, effective immediately. The new recommendations have recategorized shots for rotavirus, meningococcal disease, hepatitis A, and influenza as shots requiring "shared clinical decision-making." The CDC maintains that children should be vaccinated against measles, mumps, rubella, polio, whooping cough, tetanus, diphtheria, chickenpox, and human papillomavirus, or HPV."

"However, the announcement states that one dose of the HPV vaccine has been shown to be effective in other countries, and so a second dose will no longer be recommended for American children. This change brings the recommended number of childhood vaccines from 18 in 2024 (which the American Academy of Pediatrics still advises) to 11."

"The CDC shifted both hepatitis B and Covid-19 vaccines to a shared clinical decision-making model last year, emphasizing that these shots shouldn't be recommended for everyone, but rather based on an individual's preferences and needs. Health experts have argued this model ignores public health, and that vaccinations help reduce spread of preventable illnesses on a population level when more individuals get their shots."

Acting CDC director Jim O'Neill signed a memo ordering immediate changes to the childhood vaccine recommendations. Rotavirus, meningococcal disease, hepatitis A, and influenza vaccines were recategorized as requiring shared clinical decision-making. The CDC continues to recommend measles, mumps, rubella, polio, pertussis, tetanus, diphtheria, varicella, and HPV vaccines for children. The HPV schedule was changed to a single-dose recommendation based on evidence from other countries, reducing the number of recommended childhood vaccines from 18 to 11. The change followed a presidential directive to compare the U.S. schedule with other developed nations, often citing Denmark. Experts warned the shared decision model may undermine population-level protection; the AAP called the changes arbitrary and dangerous.

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