Federal health care officials on Monday, Jan. 5, cut the number of vaccines recommended for every child, reaffirming the need to immunize children against 11 infectious diseases such as measles but leaving families to decide whether to pursue flu shots and others.
Physician groups reacted negatively, calling the change a scientifically unsupported decision that would put children’s health at risk. The unprecedented reduction, coming without formal guidance from a panel of federal vaccine advisers, puts Minnesota in a bind. State health authorities must decide whether to break with federal guidance and offer conflicting advice to Minnesota families about which vaccines their children need and which ones are required before starting school.
U.S. Deputy Health Secretary Jim O’Neill signed a memo reducing the nation’s pediatric vaccine schedule based on what he described as a “comprehensive scientific assessment,” bringing the U.S. in line with 20 other developed nations such as Denmark. President Donald Trump had ordered the review in December, and the results matched the long-standing skepticism that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had expressed over vaccine safety.
“This decision protects children, respects families, and rebuilds trust in public health,” Kennedy said in a statement.
The Minnesota Department of Health can issue contradictory recommendations, as it did last fall when its top doctor issued a standing order allowing pharmacists to offer unrestricted access to COVID-19 shots to all people 6 months of age and older. Federal authorities at the time had withdrawn a formal recommendation and advised families to talk with their doctors about COVID-19 vaccinations.
Dr. Brooke Cunningham, Minnesota’s health commissioner, said the old pediatric schedule was based on “decades of rigorous scientific evidence” and that the federal switch was “highly concerning.” She added that Minnesota will assess the impact of the federal changes and offer next steps regarding its vaccine recommendations.
Minnesota should continue to follow the advice of professional medical groups such as the American Academy of Pediatrics that recommend vaccines based on scientific research, said Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.
Osterholm called the federal reduction “radical and dangerous” and said it was made without a transparent review of scientific data. About 280 children died in the U.S. during the last influenza season, he noted.
