A healthcare worker puts a bandage on the baby after giving the vaccine. New federal guidelines aimed at reducing the number of recommended vaccines for children from 17 to 11 come as states are already charting their own course on vaccination policy. (Photo: Scott Housley/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
New federal guidelines aimed at reducing the number of vaccines recommended for all children from 17 to 11 have been released as states are already developing their own vaccination policy courses.
New federal guidelines mention about directive issued by President Donald Trump in December calling for the U.S. vaccination schedule to be aligned with “more equitable” countries, including Denmark, which recommends fewer vaccines for children — even though those countries provide more stalwart government-funded health care systems.
At stake are public school attendance requirements, where most states have seen lower vaccination rates since the pandemic, and insurance coverage that makes vaccines affordable. At least 17 states have announced they will ignore the up-to-date federal guidelines.
Many have formed formal alliances to share health information. Northeast Public Health Collaborative, which includes Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and New York, announced This will continue on Monday in accordance with guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Children’s health and lives are literally at risk.
– Dr. Sean O’Leary, chairman of the committee on infectious diseases of the American Academy of Pediatrics
“The science is clear. Vaccines remain the best protection for keeping children and communities healthy,” the cooperative said in its announcement. “The vast majority of American adults and parents believe that routine childhood vaccinations are important for public health.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics held a news conference this month to condemn revised recommendations from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Children’s health and lives are literally at stake,” Dr. Sean O’Leary, chairman of the association’s Infectious Diseases Committee, said at the Jan. 5 event. “There is no evidence that skipping or delaying certain vaccines is beneficial for U.S. children. However, we know that whenever children are not vaccinated without recommended vaccinations, they are at risk for diseases that we can prevent.”
Governors from 14 states have formed another alliance to share public health information, including vaccines. The CDC’s updated guidance “creates confusion and introduces unnecessary barriers for families who want to protect their children from serious illnesses,” the Governors Public Health Alliance said in a Jan. 6 report press release. All of the governors are Democrats, although the group claims to be nonpartisan.
New Jersey Movement
One of the states rejecting the federal guidelines is New Jersey.
Jeffrey Brown, acting commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health, issued a statement executive orderr in December decided to maintain older federal recommendations for the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine, despite changes to federal guidelines issued by the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
Brown also urged state lawmakers to pass a law formally separating state recommendations from federal regulations on Jan. 5, the same day the up-to-date federal guidance was released. Brown said the legislation would allow independent vaccine action without such mandates and would also require insurers to cover the cost of vaccines.
The legislation “makes very clear that the health department can rely on expert bodies outside ACIP to make vaccine recommendations that make sense from a public health perspective,” Brown said. in his testimony before the Assembly’s health committee.
State Deputy Health Commissioner Novneet Sahu also testified and said changes at the federal level reflect a risky “embracing of conspiracies and second-guessing” about vaccines.
“When federal leaders fail and misinformation spreads, state policies and practices must enable New Jerseyans to receive accurate, evidence-based information about infectious disease prevention tools like vaccines,” Sahu testified.
The bill, which passed the state Senate in December, was approved by the committee on a 6-3 vote. The bill passed the state Assembly on Jan. 12 and now heads to Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy’s desk.
One of the “no” votes on the health committee was GOP Rep. Erik Peterson, who said during the hearing that he didn’t trust the state health department because of its decisions about nursing homes during the pandemic.
“You have a lot of derogatory things to say about the federal government. But some of us don’t trust the health department here in the state of New Jersey,” Peterson said.
Changes elsewhere
Similar vaccine policy changes are taking place this year in 23 states and the District of Columbia, where vaccine recommendations for schools are tied to federal guidelines, said Andy Baker-White, senior director of state health policy at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. The association is there tracking up-to-date and proposed changes in 14 states and the district.
Many of them form their own advisory committees or task forces to make vaccine recommendations. In many states, the guidelines are tied to school vaccination requirements, vaccine insurance coverage, and laws allowing pharmacists to administer vaccinations.
Brown, New Jersey’s acting health commissioner, said in his testimony that insurance requirements are an critical part of the state bill, stating that it “will ensure that people can continue to receive reimbursement for vaccines even if A.C.I.P. [the federal advisory committee] removes vaccines from the schedule or changes these recommendations.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in its announcement that this would happen no changes in insurance for any of the vaccines, even though some are no longer recommended for all children.
AHIP, a health insurance trade group, said there have been no changes to coverage and that all vaccines recommended since September will be covered until at least the end of this year.
Florida held public hearings on Republican Governor Ron DeSantis’ proposal to remove the requirement for children to be vaccinated against hepatitis B, chickenpox and haemophilus influenza B (Hib) to attend public school.
He was in Louisiana unannounced policy change in 2024, prohibiting healthcare workers from organizing vaccination events or promoting vaccinations against Covid-19, flu or smallpox. That makes life complex for mothers like Crystal Rommen, director of Louisiana Families for Vaccines, an advocacy group that supports timely vaccinations.
Rommen said she needs to organize other mothers of teenage children this year to make sure they get the Covid-19 vaccine.
“We have a policy that creates more hesitancy and doubt for parents,” said Rommen, a social worker who has a 10-year-old son and a 7-year-old daughter. “I rallied my mom’s friends, made a list of parents and kids who wanted their child to get the Covid-19 vaccine before my pediatrician could justify ordering enough doses. I’m kind of like a bulldog. I’m stoked.”
New federal guidelines continue to suggest 11 vaccines for all childrenincluding measles, mumps and chickenpox. In announcing the guidelines, the CDC said the vaccination restriction was consistent with “international consensus” while also “increasing transparency and informed consent.”
But experts said Denmark is not the right model for American policy.
There are fewer undetected cases of certain diseases in Denmark, partly due to greater access to health care and testing, so vaccinating vast numbers of children does not always make sense, a Danish specialist told Science magazine in article from January 7.
“The United States is not Denmark, and there is no reason to impose a Danish vaccination schedule on American families,” Dr. Andrew Racine, president of AAP, said in a statement.
The up-to-date guidelines have “greater flexibility and choice” for six vaccines, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said, recommending them only for high-risk groups or for “shared clinical decision-making” and not for all children: rotavirus, COVID-19, influenza, hepatitis A and B, and meningococcal disease.
The term means doctors and parents should make a joint decision, but according to the study, it has caused confusion in the past and constrained its operate for Covid-19 vaccines for all age groups. University of Pennsylvania study.
“Expecting parents to engage in shared decision-making with providers about routine, carefully studied childhood vaccinations suggests that the public health community has doubts about the safety and effectiveness of these vaccines when this is not the case,” Patrick E. Jamieson, director of the university’s Annenberg Institute for Health Communication and Risk, said in a statement.
Christina Sexton Florida Phoenix teams contributed to this report. Stateline reporter Tim Henderson can be reached at: thenderson@stateline.org.
This story was originally produced by state linewhich is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network that includes Pennsylvania Capital-Star, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
