CDC Reduces Number of Vaccines Universally Recommended to Children

The CDC has changed its recommendations for childhood immunizations, reducing the number of universally recommended vaccines from 17 to 11. CIDRAP has the news.

The CDC will “continue to recommend vaccines against 11 diseases for all children, including measles, mumps, rubella, polio, pertussis, tetanus, diphtheria, Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib), pneumococcal disease, human papillomavirus (HPV), and varicella (chickenpox).” They are now recommending six other shots for “high-risk groups,” including vaccines for “respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), hepatitis A, hepatitis B, dengue and two vaccines targeting bacterial meningitis (MenACWY and MenB).” The vaccines recommended for “shared clinical decision-making are for rotavirus, COVID-19, influenza, meningococcal disease, hepatitis A, and hepatitis B.”

The CDC is now also recommending just one dose of HPV vaccine. Prior to this change, they recommended two or three depending on how old children are when they receive their first shot.

Public health experts were immediately critical of the change. Officials with the American Academy of Pediatrics oppose the new schedule, and pediatricians and family doctors told CIDRAP they will continue to follow their guidance rather than the CDC’s. These changes come as “more U.S. children are dying from vaccine-preventable diseases, which have returned as immunization rates have declined.” The U.S. recorded 288 flu deaths in children in 2025, “the highest number for a non-pandemic flu season” on record, and this flu season continues to look severe. The changes will likely be challenged in court due to their unprecedented circumvention of the “usual process for updating vaccine schedules.”