HHS to overhaul childhood vaccines, will recommend fewer shots
- - HHS to overhaul childhood vaccines, will recommend fewer shots
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA TODAY December 20, 2025 at 1:59 AM
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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is planning to reduce the number of shots in the schedule of recommended vaccines for children, according to reports.
The U.S. vaccination schedule will be “close to” recommendations in Denmark and will be announced in 2026, according to CNN, which first reported the story citing an unidentified source who was not authorized to speak on the matter. The Washington Post also reported on the issue, citing unnamed sources.
“Unless you hear from HHS directly, this is pure speculation,” HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon told USA TODAY on Dec. 19.
1 / 13See Senators grill HHS Secretary RFK Jr. over vaccine rulings, CDC turmoilRobert F. Kennedy, Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services, testifies about the health care agenda for the Trump administration in front of the Senate Committee on Finance in Washington, D.C., on September 4, 2025.
On Dec. 5, President Donald Trump signed a memorandum directing Kennedy to align “core childhood vaccine recommendations” with best practices from peer, developed countries, which he said recommend fewer childhood vaccinations.
The U.S. currently recommends vaccines for 18 diseases compared to fewer in Denmark (10), Japan (14) and Germany (15), according to the memo.
“Study is warranted to ensure that Americans are receiving the best, scientifically-supported medical advice in the world,” the memo said.
In June, Kennedy removed all 17 members of the CDC's expert vaccine panel and filled many of the positions with people who have been vaccine skeptics or questioned COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies Jan. 29 at his Senate hearing on his nomination to be the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ended a long-standing recommendation that all newborns receive the hepatitis B vaccine. The vaccine advisory panel, appointed by Kennedy, voted to institute a policy giving the shots to only newborns whose mothers test positive for hepatitis B or whose status is unknown.
For parents who want to vaccinate their children regardless, the panel recommended they do so after the child is at least two months old.
Public Health Watch, a project of Protect Our Care, criticized the expected move.
“The Trump-Kennedy scheme to gut the child vaccine schedule is clearly not based on any credible data or science after denying a seat at the table for the nation’s leading medical experts on the issue,” said Kayla Hancock, Director of Public Health Watch, said in a statement. “Trump and Kennedy instead packed their advisory committee with likeminded vaccine skeptics who latch onto unfounded pseudoscience to fulfill their ideological agenda. But while the administration plays politics, millions of American children will be left far more vulnerable to preventable and dangerous diseases, like hep B.”
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: HHS to overhaul childhood vaccines, will recommend fewer shots
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