The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday announced a dramatic change in its recommended childhood vaccine schedule. The agency will reduce the number of recommended routine immunizations for all children. CDC slashes childhood vaccine schedule in unprecedented overhaul following pandemic trust issues https://t.co/KQEZYkCXIG pic.twitter.com/DjqKynR15O — New York Post (@nypost) January 5, 2026 “The CDC will continue to recommend that all children are vaccinated against diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis (whooping cough), Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), Pneumococcal conjugate, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, and human papillomavirus (HPV), for which there is international consensus, as well as varicella (chickenpox),” the CDC stated. The agency will narrow recommendations for vaccination against “respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV; meningococcal disease; hepatitis B; and hepatitis A to children who are broadly at higher risk for infections,” CNN noted. “Like all medical products, vaccines and other immunizing agents have different risk-benefit profiles for different groups of people. Risk factors can include unusual exposure to the disease, underlying comorbidities, or the risk of disease transmission to others,” the CDC stated. “The immunizations recommended for certain high-risk groups or populations are for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), hepatitis A, hepatitis B, dengue, meningococcal ACWY, and meningococcal B,” it added. Fox News shared further: According to a CDC release, Deputy Health and Human Services Secretary Jim O’Neill, serving as acting CDC director, signed a decision memorandum accepting the findings of a comprehensive scientific assessment ordered by President Trump in December. The review examined childhood immunization practices in 20 peer, developed nations and found that the United States is a “global outlier” in both the number of diseases covered by its routine childhood vaccine schedule and the total number of recommended doses. The assessment concluded that the U.S. does not achieve higher vaccination rates than countries that recommend fewer vaccines. “President Trump directed us to examine how other developed nations protect their children and to take action if they are doing better,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a statement. “After an exhaustive review of the evidence, we are aligning the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule with international consensus while strengthening transparency and informed consent,” Kennedy said. “This decision protects children, respects families, and rebuilds trust in public health.” Under the updated framework, the CDC will continue organizing vaccines into three categories: those recommended for all children, those recommended for certain high-risk groups, and those based on shared clinical decision-making. “It is not always possible for public health authorities to clearly define who will benefit from an immunization, who has the relevant risk factors, or who is at risk for exposure. Physicians and parents, who know the child, are then best equipped to decide based on individual characteristics,” the CDC stated. “The immunizations based on shared clinical decision-making are for rotavirus, COVID-19, influenza, meningococcal disease, hepatitis A, and hepatitis B,” it added. “All vaccines currently recommended by CDC will remain covered by insurance without cost sharing,” Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Mehmet Oz said. “No family will lose access. This framework empowers parents and physicians to make individualized decisions based on risk, while maintaining strong protection against serious disease,” he continued. “Public health works only when people trust it,” FDA Commissioner Marty Makary commented. “That trust depends on transparency, rigorous science, and respect for families. This decision recommits HHS to all three,” he added. “Science demands continuous evaluation,” NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya said. “This decision commits NIH, CDC, and FDA to gold standard science, greater transparency, and ongoing reassessment as new data emerge,” he continued. “The assessment also documents a significant decline in public trust in health care institutions between 2020 and 2024, alongside falling childhood vaccination rates and increased risk of vaccine-preventable diseases,” the CDC release read. “The accepted recommendations recognize there is a need for more and better gold standard science, including placebo-controlled randomized trials and long-term observational studies to better characterize vaccine benefits, risks, and outcomes. HHS agencies are called on to fund this gold standard science for all vaccines on the schedule,” it continued. The CDC is dropping universal recommendations for certain childhood vaccines, including Covid-19, flu and hepatitis B shots https://t.co/4HA7kDuS0W — The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) January 5, 2026 CNN has more: The new US schedule of childhood vaccines more closely resembles that of other developed nations such as Denmark, as CNN reported last month. Denmark does not currently recommend childhood vaccinations against rotavirus, hepatitis A, meningococcal, flu, chickenpox or RSV. US health officials initially planned to announce the changes in December, weeks after Dr. Tracy Beth Hoeg, newly named acting director of the US Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, gave a presentation on the Danish vaccine schedule to the CDC’s panel of vaccine advisers. The panel, the Advisory Committee on Immunizations Practices, was reconstituted last year with a new group of members after US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine skeptic, dismissed all previous appointees.