CDC Aligns Childhood Vaccine Schedule With Denmark, Cutting Routine Recommendations From 17 Diseases to 11

The CDC has updated the childhood vaccination schedule recommendations to align with Denmark, which has reduced the number of diseases protected against from 17 to 11. The new recommendations take effect immediately, and the announcement comes just weeks after President Donald Trump called on HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the CDC to review the vaccine schedule.

“President Trump directed us to examine how other developed nations protect their children and to take action if they are doing better,” Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said. “After an exhaustive review of the evidence, we are aligning the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule with international consensus while strengthening transparency and informed consent. This decision protects children, respects families, and rebuilds trust in public health.”

A comprehensive review was conducted comparing the US vaccine schedule to 20 other nations. The review concluded that the US is an outlier on vaccine recommendations and also that the country has worse vaccination rates than countries that recommend fewer vaccines, like Denmark.

COVID-19 was removed from the vaccine schedule last year, and six more diseases were removed from the schedule with this latest update. The CDC no longer routinely recommends vaccination against rotavirus, RSV, influenza, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, or bacterial meningitis.

Before the COVID-19 vaccine was removed from the childhood schedule, the CDC recommended a total of 72 doses for children from birth to 18 years old to protect against 18 diseases. That included annual COVID-19 and influenza shots. With the latest update, there are 11 diseases and a total of 22-23 doses recommended for all children. The schedule notes that some children should receive a third Hib vaccination at six months, “depending on their dose series,” for a total of 23 doses.

Before one year of age, children are now recommended to receive 10-12 doses to protect against six diseases. The 2024 vaccine schedule recommends children receive 17-21 doses before the age of one year.

High-risk groups are recommended to get vaccinated against RSV, Hepatitis A and B, Dengue, and two types of bacterial meningitis. The remaining vaccines have been moved into the category of shared clinical decision-making between patients and their doctors.

The administration assured that the vaccines would continue to be covered by health insurance plans without cost-sharing. “No family will lose access,” CMS Director Mehmet Oz said. “This framework empowers parents and physicians to make individualized decisions based on risk, while maintaining strong protection against serious disease.”

The vaccines will still be available to parents who want their children vaccinated against these diseases. Schools and daycares may adjust any mandated vaccines they have to align with the childhood schedule, but the changes only reflect different recommendations from the CDC. It does not prescribe any change of action for any group of individuals.

The comprehensive review found that the US recommended more vaccines than any other peer nation, including more than twice as many as some European countries. Trust in US public health institutions declined from 72% to 40% between 2020 and 2024. The HHS fact sheet states that the COVID-19 vaccine uptake rate in 2023 was less than 10% despite CDC recommendations. The agency also notes that the uptake rate of other childhood vaccines declined during the same time period.

The HHS press release states they are committed to “double-blind placebo-controlled randomized trials as well as more observational studies to evaluate long-term effects of individual vaccines and the vaccine schedule.” The agency statement also notes that this kind of robust research is necessary to better inform patients about the risks and benefits of vaccination.

The Hepatitis A and B, RSV, rotavirus, meningococcal, and influenza vaccines have been reported to VAERS 194,000 times between 2010 and 2023, with 759 deaths. Approximately 10-15% of adverse events reported to VAERS are considered serious, including hospitalization, life-threatening illness, disability, or death. That equates to 14,923 average annual combined reports with 1,492 to 2,238 serious reports.

VAERS reports do not prove causation, but peer-reviewed studies have also shown that there is underreporting in this surveillance system. The Harvard Pilgrim Study estimated that only about 1% of mild adverse events are reported, while another CDC-funded study found severe side effects are reported from 12% to 27% of the time, which would indicate severe side effects are underreported by a factor of 4-8 for routine childhood vaccines and serious conditions.

The HighWire reported that the Danish childhood schedule has lower cumulative aluminum exposure than the previous US schedule. Another report by The HighWire broke down the health outcomes of countries that have fewer vaccines on the childhood schedule, including better infant mortality rates and a higher life expectancy. The US has an infant mortality rate that is 2.75 times higher than Japan’s and 1.88 times higher than Denmark’s.

Vaccine Scientist and patent holder Dr. Peter Hotez said removing six vaccines and putting them into the shared decision-making category is “completely nonsense.” He added, “In my pediatric residency in Boston in the 1980s, all vaccines were administered through shared decision making. Our training was all about explaining to parents the benefits of vaccines vs. the risks of the diseases they’re designed to prevent.”

Informed consent, as described by HHS Secretary Kennedy, would involve describing the benefits and risks of the medical product, which is the vaccine. Dr. Hotez said he explained the risks of the diseases, but didn’t say he described the risks of vaccination to his patients.

Conducting double-blind placebo-controlled studies has been considered unethical by the Helsinki Declaration, which states that withholding a safe and effective treatment from study participants is unethical. Attorney Aaron Siri says that none of the vaccines on the childhood schedule have been tested against a saline placebo. No specifics have been shared by HHS as to how it plans to conduct double-blind placebo studies on vaccines, but the removal of six vaccines from the routine childhood schedule may be the first step to conducting these trials.

The HighWire also reported on Siri’s statement that vaccine manufacturers could lose liability protections under the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act if they are no longer routinely recommended on the childhood vaccine schedule. Siri explained it would need to be litigated, and others have challenged that immunity protections would be lost in this instance.