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The Trump Administration has dramatically reduced the number of recommended childhood vaccines. Effective immediately, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will no longer recommend that every child receive vaccines for rotavirus, influenza, meningococcal disease, RSV, hepatitis A, and hepatitis B.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. was quoted in today's written announcement, saying, “President Trump directed us to examine how other developed nations protect their children and to take action if they are doing better.” Kennedy hinted late last year that he’d like the U.S. immunization schedule to be more in line with Denmark’s.
Dr. Peter Hotez, who is the dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and co-director of the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, thinks Kennedy cherry-picked Europe, selecting Denmark as a model simply because it requires only ten vaccines. Hotez pointed out that Denmark is about the size of Wisconsin and has universal health care, so the two countries' needs are vastly different.
Hotez spoke with Bioscience and Medicine Reporter Bonnie Petrie on the current episode of TPR's Petrie Dish, and he told her that as a pediatrician who has admitted many kids to the hospital with meningococcal disease and rotavirus, he's particularly concerned with the removal of those vaccines from the recommended schedule. "I can say with confidence and authority that’s a grave mistake."
This decision appears to have bypassed the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which is traditionally the group that makes federal vaccine recommendations. Individual states do not have to accept this new schedule and can continue with their current vaccine requirements.
Hotez acknowledged that parents might be confused by all of the conflicting information circulating right now and stressed that the best source of good guidance is your child's pediatrician. "I think it's really important that you trust your pediatrician and have discussions with your pediatrician, if you're uncertain," he said. "They're well-trained in vaccinations."
