Led by anti-vaccine Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., federal health officials on Monday announced a sweeping and unprecedented overhaul of federal vaccine guidelines, sharply cutting recommended vaccinations for children 17 to 11 years old.
Officials said the reason for the change was to more closely align U.S. vaccine recommendations with those of other high-income countries, namely Denmark, a small, much less diverse country of about 6 million people (smaller than the population of New York) that has universal health care. Officials also say the change is needed to address declining public confidence in vaccinations that has been fueled by anti-vaccine activists including Kennedy.
“This decision protects children, respects families and restores trust in public health,” Kennedy said in a statement.
Health experts disagree. “Kennedy's decision will harm and kill children, as have all of his anti-vaccination decisions,” James Alvin, a virologist with Defend Public Health, said in a statement.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, an outspoken critic of Kennedy, criticized the changes, saying “to arbitrarily stop recommending numerous routine childhood vaccinations is dangerous and unnecessary,” AAP President Andrew Racine said. “The United States is not Denmark,” he added.
Under the new federal guidelines, generally recommended vaccinations are limited to the following 11 diseases: measles, mumps, rubella, polio, whooping cough (whooping cough), tetanus, diphtheria, Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib), pneumococcal disease, human papillomavirus (HPV) and varicella (chickenpox).
