The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has cut the number of vaccines it broadly recommends for children — removing routine recommendations for vaccines such as influenza, rotavirus, meningococcal disease, and hepatitis A — in a major update to the childhood immunization schedule. The change, advanced under the leadership of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and supported by the current administration, reduces the number of universally recommended vaccines and shifts some to shared decision-making between parents and clinicians. Leading medical groups, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, have raised alarms that this departure from longstanding science-based policy could undermine public trust and increase the risk of preventable diseases in children.
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