Vaccines drops from 17 to 10. CDC Drastically Overhauls Childhood Vaccine Schedule
A certified medical assistant holds a syringe for a flu vaccine at a clinic in Seattle, on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)
The federal government took an unprecedented step Monday by reducing the number of vaccines it recommends for all children, leaving other immunizations, like flu shots, optional and without clear guidance. Officials emphasized that the change will not affect families’ access to vaccines or insurance coverage. However, medical experts criticized the move, warning it could lower vaccination rates and increase the risk of disease, the AP reports. The total number of recommended childhood vaccines has dropped from 17 to 10, according to the BBC.
The adjustment, made without input from the advisory committee that normally consults on the federal vaccine schedule, follows a request from President Trump in December. He asked the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to review how other countries approach childhood vaccines and to consider aligning U.S. recommendations with theirs.
Under the new guidance, the U.S. vaccine schedule will more closely resemble Denmark’s, which recommends vaccines for 11 diseases, NBC News reports. Researcher Anders Hviid, who found no link between aluminum in vaccines and disorders such as autism, noted that Denmark’s free and universal healthcare system reduces the risk of serious outcomes from diseases not covered by vaccination.
HHS said a comparison with 20 peer nations showed that the U.S. was an “outlier” in both the number of vaccinations and the number of doses recommended for all children. Agency officials framed the change as a way to increase public trust by focusing on the most essential childhood vaccinations.
The CDC will continue to recommend vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella, polio, pertussis, tetanus, diphtheria, Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib), pneumococcal disease, HPV, and chickenpox, NBC reports. Vaccines for RSV, hepatitis A and B, dengue, and two types of bacterial meningitis will now be recommended only for high-risk groups. Other vaccines, including flu and COVID shots, will be guided by what the CDC calls “shared clinical decision-making.”
“This decision protects children, respects families, and rebuilds trust in public health,” Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime critic of vaccines, said in a statement Monday.
Medical experts, however, strongly disagreed. “Abandoning recommendations for vaccines that prevent influenza, hepatitis, and rotavirus, and changing the recommendation for HPV without a public process to weigh the risks and benefits, will lead to more hospitalizations and preventable deaths among American children,” said Michael Osterholm of the Vaccine Integrity Project at the University of Minnesota.
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