Pediatricians urge Americans to stick with previous vaccine schedule, despite CDC's recent changes

"For decades, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spoke with a single voice when advising the nation's families on when to vaccinate their children. Since 1995, the two organizations have worked together to publish a single vaccine schedule for parents and healthcare providers that clearly laid out which vaccines children should get and exactly when they should get them."

"Today, that united front has fractured. Earlier this month, the Department of Health and Human Services announced drastic changes to the CDC's vaccine schedule, slashing the number of diseases that it recommends U.S. children be routinely vaccinated against to 11 from 17. That follows the CDC's decision last year to reverse its recommendation that all kids get the COVID-19 vaccine."

"On Monday, the AAP released its own immunization guidelines, which now look very different from the federal government's. The organization, which represents most of the nation's primary care and specialty doctors for children, recommends that children continue to be routinely vaccinated against 18 different diseases, just as the CDC did before Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took over the nation's health agencies."

For decades the American Academy of Pediatrics and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a single vaccine schedule for parents and healthcare providers. The Department of Health and Human Services recently directed drastic changes to the CDC schedule, reducing recommended routine childhood vaccinations from 17 to 11 diseases. The CDC also reversed its recommendation for routine COVID-19 vaccination for children last year. The AAP released its own immunization guidelines recommending routine vaccination against 18 diseases and secured endorsements from a dozen medical groups. California public health recommends following the AAP schedule. Both schedules still recommend vaccinations for measles, mumps, rubella, polio, pertussis, tetanus, diphtheria and Haemophilus influenzae.

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