U.S. health officials on Monday made broad changes to childhood vaccine recommendations, effective immediately, reducing the number of diseases recommended for all children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will now recommend that all children get vaccinated against 11 diseases, down from 18 a year ago.
The changes come as vaccination rates have been slipping and the share of children with exemptions has reached an all-time high, according to federal data cited by The Associated Press. At the same time, rates of diseases that can be protected against with vaccines, including measles and whooping cough, are rising.
Under the revised guidance, vaccines that were once broadly recommended are now limited to certain children at high risk or are based on individual doctor advice through what is called “shared decision-making.” In the demoted category, federal guidance lists flu, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, meningococcal disease, rotavirus, RSV, and COVID-19, a change that AP reported was made in 2025.
The federal recommendations that were left on a “recommended for all” list include vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR); diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTaP) for whooping cough; polio; chickenpox; and Hib, described by AP as Haemophilus influenzae type B bacteria that is not related to flu. AP also reported that pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) remained on the recommended-for-all list.
For human papillomavirus, or HPV, AP reported a dose change as part of the shift. It said the guidance reduces the number of recommended HPV vaccine doses from two or three shots to just one, even as HPV stayed on the recommended-for-all list.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said the overhaul was in response to a request from President Donald Trump in December. HHS told AP that its comparison to 20 peer nations found the U.S. was an “outlier” in both the number of vaccinations and the number of doses recommended to all children, and officials said the change is intended to increase public trust by recommending only the most important vaccinations for children to receive.
AP reported that many European countries recommend some of the vaccines that the U.S. removed from its list. The CDC’s updated schedule has drawn concern from pediatricians and large doctors’ groups, which have said they will continue recommending the vaccines that the Trump administration demoted.
The American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics told AP they would continue to recommend those vaccines and said there was no new science warranting the changes, including no signs that the former schedule harmed children. Dr. Sean O’Leary of the American Academy of Pediatrics said the changes could increase child illness and death from preventable disease, voicing special concern that the U.S. would no longer recommend flu vaccine for children as the flu season is becoming severe after last winter’s particularly harsh season.
AP said pediatricians’ group recommendations may play a role in how families experience the change, noting that states—not the federal government—have authority to require vaccinations for schoolchildren. The report said some states have begun creating their own alliances to counter the Trump administration’s guidance, and it added that CDC requirements often influence state regulations.
For families, AP said it is not yet clear what will change. It reported that doctor visits may not change because of continued recommendations by pediatric groups, but medical specialists said the absence of an explicit federal recommendation could raise questions among parents and make conversations at the doctor’s office more difficult.
AP also warned that if fewer children are vaccinated, outbreaks historically prevented by high vaccination rates could spread more widely, leading to more missed school and work.
On coverage, the Trump administration told AP that health insurers will continue coverage for families that still want the shots. AP said health insurers generally view vaccination as a good deal because shots cost less than hospitalizations, and that many had previously said they planned to cover what was recommended last year through 2026.
—— The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.