"By making sweeping changes to the nation's childhood vaccine schedule, America's top health leaders are recklessly maximizing the threat from previously common diseases and dismissing our collective role in preventing them. The new policy, which cuts the number of recommended vaccinations by more than a third, sends a not-so-subtle message that something was broken in the previous approach to keeping American kids healthy despite decades of evidence to the contrary."
"Rather than a broad recommendation for all children, vaccines against meningitis, hepatitis A and B, dengue, and RSV will now be recommended only for high-risk groups. Meanwhile, parents can consider several other shots, including the flu and COVID vaccines, through a shared decision-making process that involves consulting with a health care provider. It's an extraordinary departure from the days when Americans received clear public health guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
U.S. health leaders drastically altered the childhood vaccination schedule, cutting recommended vaccinations by more than a third and narrowing universal recommendations to high‑risk groups for meningitis, hepatitis A and B, dengue, and RSV. Several other vaccines, including flu and COVID, shifted to shared decision-making between parents and health providers. The change followed a White House directive to align U.S. guidance with peer nations such as Denmark and bypassed usual CDC and HHS expert review processes. The overhaul elevates vaccine hesitancy by amplifying doubt about vaccine safety and necessity and risks increasing preventable disease incidence.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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