The Trump administration is cutting the number of vaccines on the immunization schedule for children, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Monday. The move could further erode vaccine coverage even as cases of vaccine-preventable diseases surge nationwide.
The CDC will no longer explicitly recommend children get vaccinated for rotavirus, COVID-19, influenza, meningococcal disease, hepatitis A and hepatitis B, reducing the number of diseases covered by the childhood immunization schedule from 17 to 11.
They will remain available under “shared clinical-decision making,” in which parents can elect for their children to receive the shots if their medical providers agree that they are necessary.