According to a recent announcement from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the recommended vaccination schedule for children has been reduced from 17 vaccines to 11 vaccines.
The decision came in the wake of a presidential memorandum directing HHS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to compare the U.S. vaccination schedule with schedules in “comparable developed countries.”
In June 2025, members of the Immunization Practices Advisory Committee were dismissed by the Department of Health “under the direction of Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.” Replaced by a new set of ACIP members. In January of this year, six vaccines were removed from the vaccine schedule and the CDC no longer recommends them for all children.
Those vaccinations include:
Rotavirus Influenza Hepatitis A Hepatitis B Novel Coronavirus Infection Meningococcal Vaccine
Additionally, at least two doses of the HPV vaccine are usually recommended, but currently only one dose is recommended. It is recommended that children at high risk of infection receive unscheduled vaccinations.
“This is a recipe for disaster,” says Dr. Tyler B. Evans, an infectious disease expert and CEO of the Wellness Equity Alliance. “There’s no science to support this. We have some of the best science to support what we’ve had so far, and there was no reason to change that.”
Here are the main concerns Evans and other public health experts have about changes to childhood vaccination schedules: Plus, how people navigate updates.
Changes in vaccine schedule could cause access issues, doctors say
Evan said that for decades, the U.S. vaccination schedule has worked very well, recommending vaccines for children that are excluded from the recommended list. HHS recommends parents practice “shared clinical decision-making” by consulting with their child’s doctor about which vaccines to receive.
“The more variation there is, the harder it will be to actually order the vaccine and administer it in real time,” Evan said.
“What’s going to happen is you’re going to order the vaccine and say, ‘We don’t have it right now. Let’s have you come back in three weeks.’ You know what? They’re not going to come back.”
And worst of all, if the vaccine schedule doesn’t include a particular immunization, some parents may not understand why a doctor is recommending an immunization that isn’t recommended by the CDC or HHS, he says. This could fuel mistrust in medicine, Evans added.
Schools may also face challenges enforcing vaccine entry requirements, he explains.
“We are destroying current practices and trust between patients, health care providers, and the systems that govern health care providers, including state health departments and federal agencies,” Evans said. “We are also now having a significant impact on how many of these vaccines are potentially funded.”
HHS officials said the changes will not mean insurers will refuse to cover the price of vaccines that are no longer recommended, but Evans said there may still be barriers to cost.
“Now that the federal government is recommending only one dose of HPV vaccination (instead of the previously recommended two or three doses), insurance companies will no longer have to pay for additional shots if parents request them,” the Kaiser Family Foundation said. KFF reports that the price of a single dose of the HPV vaccine can exceed $300.
AHIP, a trade group for U.S. health insurance companies, released a statement in September of this year announcing that it would cover the cost of all vaccinations recommended by ACIP on September 1, 2025, until the end of 2026.
Talking to your primary care provider is ‘all we can do right now’
“The best way[for parents]to get through this is actually to talk to their primary care provider,” Evans said. “The reality is that’s kind of all we have. That’s all we have right now.”
He noted that messages about vaccines can vary from state to state. “It really depends on the condition you’re in,” he says. “We probably wouldn’t say, listen to the state guidelines.”
Evans suggests looking at vaccine schedules recommended by “reputable organizations” such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Practice.
“The more barriers we create, the more our residents suffer,” Evan said.
“The more we make these changes to a system that actually works well, the more the most vulnerable people are going to get sick.”
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