The U.S. cut the number of vaccines it recommends for every child, a move that leading medical groups warn could weaken protections against several serious diseases.
The change took effect immediately. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will now recommend that all children be vaccinated against 11 diseases. Under the new guidance, vaccines for influenza, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, some forms of meningitis, and RSV are now recommended only for certain high-risk groups or through what the CDC calls “shared decision-making” between families and doctors.
Michigan’s Chief Medical Executive, Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, addressed the changes and detailed how the state is responding.
“Usually, when we see a change to vaccine guidance to our childhood vaccine schedule, we usually see maybe one vaccine changed or maybe two vaccines changed. There’s a formal process that it goes through. It usually goes to this committee called the ACIP. There is a public comment. We have liaison members who join. There’s data presented, and in this case, none of those things happened.”
This is “a complete overhaul of the vaccine schedule for children here in the United States,” according to Bagdasarian.
When asked whether this outcome was expected given the appointment of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has a history of vaccine skepticism, Bagdasarian said public health leaders feared something like this could happen.
“This is something that I think we have all feared might happen,” said Bagdasarian. “This is something that we have been thinking about -- a big change to the vaccine schedule.”
She said the way the changes were made is creating widespread confusion.
“I think the way in which it happened was unprecedented, and unfortunately, this causes a lot of confusion to people out there. It causes confusion for parents who are trying to make the best decisions for their children. It also causes confusion and angst to healthcare providers who want to provide the best possible care to their patients. That’s because this new guidance that is coming down from the federal government makes some people feel that they are at risk for additional liability, that there could be additional penalties for following the science, and that should not be the case.”
Michigan, she said, is standing firm on science-based guidance.
In late 2025, the state issued a recommendation asking health care providers to continue following vaccine schedules from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Bagdasarian said the state made that decision anticipating a potential shift at the federal level and continues to stand by it.
“We believe that this is a decision and a schedule that should be determined by science and data and health care providers who really understand the health care needs of kids in our country.”
Bagdasarian emphasized that the federal changes should not affect vaccine cost, insurance coverage or access — at least for now.
She explained that while there had been concern that some vaccines might be removed entirely from the childhood immunization schedule — which could affect coverage under the Vaccines for Children Program — that did not happen.
“Nothing has changed yet,” said Bagdasarian. ”What the Department of Health and Human Services did here, is they didn’t completely remove vaccines, they changed the dosing, they changed number of doses, when doses are given, and they changed some of the language around who should be offered a dose, but the vaccines remain on that list, so it shouldn’t have any immediate consequences when it comes to coverage.”
Bagdasarian also pushed back on the idea that herd immunity makes some vaccines unnecessary. She pointed to changes to the hepatitis A vaccine, which is no longer recommended routinely and is now targeted mainly to children traveling to high-risk areas.
She noted that several hepatitis A outbreaks in the U.S. have been linked to imported foods, such as frozen strawberries and blueberries, and that for about a third of cases, the source of exposure is unknown — meaning children could be left at risk.
She also expressed concern about changes to the influenza vaccine, which was shifted from a routine recommendation to “shared clinical decision-making.”
“That means that fewer people will get the flu vaccine in a really bad flu season,” Bagdasarian said.
Bagdasarian warned that the confusion surrounding the changes could spill over into other vaccines.
“This vaccine hesitancy and the confusion all of this is creating, I think that’s going to impact even vaccines that weren’t specifically called out by changes.”
She said Michigan has already seen a decline in measles vaccination rates and that there are many communities in the state where there isn’t herd immunity protection.
The health official shared some advice for families amid the changes.
“We are recommending that parents and healthcare providers follow those recommendations from the AAP and the AAFP.”
She also urged families to speak directly with their doctors.
“Most healthcare providers vaccinate their own kids because these are vaccines where we have reviewed the science, reviewed the safety and we’ve seen the consequences of not immunizing,” said Bagdasarian.
As a physician, Bagdasarian said she is disappointed by how politicized vaccine policy has become.
“It’s very disappointing. I’m not an elected official. I’m a physician. I’ve spent my entire career trying to combat infectious diseases, and none of this should be political. These are health decisions that should be made by parents in conjunction with their healthcare provider, and these are decisions nationally where policy should be guided by science and should be guided, again, by those medical organizations.”