An overhaul of US childhood immunisation guidelines has dropped the number of diseases children should be vaccinated against from 17 to 11.<\/p>\n
The new list of recommended vaccines, issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday, includes polio and measles vaccines, but others, like hepatitis A and B, and Covid vaccines, are recommended based on risk and \u00ab\u00a0shared clinical decision-making\u00a0\u00bb between doctors and parents, the announcement said.<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump praised the new recommendation saying it was \u00ab\u00a0rooted in the gold standard of science\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
However, the American Academy of Pediatrics criticised the recommendation, describing it as \u00ab\u00a0dangerous and unnecessary.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
The overhaul is the latest sweeping policy change made under the Trump administration spearheaded by health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0Many Americans, especially the \u00ab\u00a0MAHA Moms,\u00a0\u00bb have been praying for these COMMON SENSE reforms for many years,\u00a0\u00bb Trump said in a statement online referring to the Make America Healthy Again slogan.<\/p>\n
Kennedy, who has long been sceptical of vaccines, said the overhaul came \u00ab\u00a0after an exhaustive review\u00a0\u00bb and that it \u00ab\u00a0protects children, respects families, and rebuilds trust in public health.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0We are aligning the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule with international consensus while strengthening transparency and informed consent,\u00a0\u00bb he added.<\/p>\n
According to the CDC, the recommended vaccines for all children will include vaccines to protect against: measles, mumps, rubella, polio, pertussis, tetanus, diphtheria, Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib), pneumococcal disease, human papillomavirus (HPV), and varicella (chicken pox).<\/p>\n
A second category of vaccines was recommended for children depending on risk factors. That includes vaccines for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), hepatitis A, hepatitis B, dengue, and meningococcal ACWY and meningococcal B – which protects against meningitis.<\/p>\n
The third group of vaccines for Covid-19, influenza, and rotavirus has been left to parents and doctors to decide.<\/p>\n
For now, insurance will continue to cover vaccines still recommended at the end of 2025.<\/p>\n
The new recommendations were made in response to an executive order signed by President Trump in December, the US health department said. That order instructed US health officials to compare the country to \u00ab\u00a0peer developed countries\u00a0\u00bb and make recommendations.<\/p>\n
The department says it compared the US to 20 nations included Britain, Canada, Denmark and Australia and found the US was \u00ab\u00a0a global outlier\u00a0\u00bb in the number of diseases covered and number of doses. It cited Denmark’s recommendation against 10 diseases as a model for the US. But that comparison was criticised by Dr. Andrew D. Racine, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0The United States is not Denmark, and there is no reason to impose the Danish immunization schedule on America’s families. America is a unique country, and Denmark’s population, public health infrastructure, and disease-risk differ greatly from our own.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Denmark’s population is around 6 million while the US has about 340 million people.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0At a time when parents, pediatricians and the public are looking for clear guidance and accurate information, this ill-considered decision will sow further chaos and confusion and erode confidence in immunizations,\u00a0\u00bb Dr. Racine added. \u00ab\u00a0This is no way to make our country healthier.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Republican Senator Bill Cassiday from Louisiana, who is a doctor, also criticised the new recommendation.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0Changing the pediatric vaccine schedule based on no scientific input on safety risks and little transparency will cause unnecessary fear for patients and doctors, and will make America sicker,\u00a0\u00bb he said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Monday’s announcement came weeks after a CDC panel made a new recommendation about when children should receive the first hepatitis B vaccine. Previously, a first dose was recommended for babies within 24 hours of birth but the revised guidelines last December moved it to two months after birth if the mother was hepatitis B negative.<\/p>\n
That recommendation was roundly criticised by paediatricians with the American Academy of Pediatrics describing it as \u00ab\u00a0a dangerous move that will harm children\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An overhaul of US childhood immunisation guidelines has dropped the number of diseases children should be vaccinated against from 17 to 11. The new list of recommended vaccines, issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday, includes polio and measles vaccines, but others, like hepatitis A and B, and Covid vaccines, are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9615","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9615\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}