RFK Jr. Orders Major Overhaul Of Childhood Vaccine Schedule
For the first time in decades, the nation’s childhood vaccine schedule is getting a major overhaul.
Under the new guidance, issued Monday after President Donald Trump ordered the department to review the United States’ vaccine schedule in relation to other developed nations, there are fewer shots recommended for kids. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now advises vaccines for eleven diseases instead of eighteen, aligning more closely with Denmark’s approach.
Dropped from the vaccine schedule are recommendations for Hep B, Rotavirus, MenACWY, Hep A, and the flu shot. Still recommended for all children — not those who are specifically high-risk — are the vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella, polio, pertussis, tetanus, diphtheria, Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib), pneumococcal disease, human papillomavirus (HPV), and chickenpox.
Health officials say their assessment, which reviewed 20 developed peer nations’ schedules, found that the United States is a “global outlier” among developed nations in both the number of diseases addressed in its routine vaccine schedule, as well as the total number of recommended doses, while still not achieving higher vaccination rates than the other nations.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been a longtime critic of the vaccine industry. Last summer, his agency moved to fire all seventeen members of the government’s advisory committee on vaccines, saying “a clean sweep is necessary to reestablish public confidence in vaccine science.”
He has argued that the government health agencies have for years been a “rubber stamp” for the pharmaceutical industry, which has prioritized profits over science.
Related: RFK Wants To Shake Up Childhood Vaccines To Mirror Denmark. Here’s What That Could Mean For Parents
The changes, his top officials argue, are aimed at restoring public trust after the COVID pandemic, not discouraging vaccination.
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All vaccinations recommended by the CDC as of December 31, 2025, will continue to be fully covered by Affordable Care Act plans, and in insurance plans and federal insurance programs like Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and the Vaccines for Children program.
A press release from Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Health and Human Services said insurance “will continue to cover more vaccines for children in the United States than in peer nations, where insurance generally only pays for recommended vaccines.”
As for what’s coming next, health care providers will soon have access to the updated Child and Adolescent Immunization Schedule by Age (through age 18) of immunization recommendations for all children, immunization recommendations for certain high-risk groups or populations, and immunizations based on shared clinical decision-making, according to HHS.
Additionally, the department is working with states and physician groups to educate parents and providers on the updated schedule. The CDC says it will closely monitor vaccine uptake, infectious disease rates, and vaccine safety.
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