A statement on behalf of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia from our Director of Public Health and History of Vaccines, René Najera, MPH, DrPH, FCPP:
On January 5, 2026, federal health officials announced a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. childhood immunization schedule, reducing the number of vaccines recommended universally for all children and shifting several long-standing routine recommendations into “shared clinical decision-making” or “high-risk only” categories.
This is a fundamental break from the evidence-based system the United States has relied on for decades: a transparent process in which the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) reviews data publicly and votes on recommendations that become CDC policy once adopted. Bypassing that process puts children at risk.
The vaccines being downgraded are not “optional nice-to-haves.” They prevent diseases with real, immediate, and sometimes lifelong consequences:
- Rotavirus used to be a routine feature of American pediatrics: before vaccine introduction, it caused 55,000 to 70,000 hospitalizations and 20 to 60 deaths in U.S. children each year. The rotavirus vaccine reduced this by over 80%, and deaths are now thankfully rare.
- Meningococcal disease can become life-threatening within hours. Even with prompt treatment, the CDC notes a 10 to 15% fatality rate. Survivors can experience long-term harms such as deafness or amputations.
- Hepatitis A is a serious liver infection. After vaccination began in 1996, the CDC documented a more than 95% decrease in reported acute cases from 1996 to 2011, illustrating exactly what routine vaccination can accomplish at the population level.
- And influenza is not “just a bad cold” for kids: in the 2024 to 2025 season, the CDC reported 280 pediatric deaths, a record number since pediatric influenza deaths have been tracked.
The revised schedule was issued without the usual review by an outside expert panel. A combination of a weakened scientific process plus a leadership culture that has repeatedly promoted distrust leads to lower vaccination rates, increased confusion in clinics, and invites the return of diseases we have worked hard to control.
We urge federal leadership to reverse this rollback, restore the evidence-based ACIP process, and communicate clearly — not ambiguously — about why routine childhood vaccination remains one of the greatest public health successes in U.S. history.