The revised schedule for childhood vaccinations recently released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – which drastically reduces the number of recommended vaccines from 18 to 11 – raises “grave concerns,” said a local pediatrician.
Dr. Anastasia Williams, director of pediatric medicine for San Fernando Community Health Center, said the new guidelines mirror those in the country of Denmark, but she points out that Los Angeles County has a much larger population with more risks and vulnerable populations.
“A vaccine schedule in any country should really be designed to [help protect] real children in real communities” – especially when there are “real barriers to [health] care,” said Williams.
She also pointed out that many of those involved in issuing the recent CDC update aren’t medical professionals or scientists.
Announced Jan. 5, the CDC’s new guidelines still include vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella, polio, pertussis, tetanus, diphtheria, Haemophilus influenzae type b, pneumococcal disease, varicella (chickenpox) and human papillomavirus (HPV). But the CDC now recommends only one dose of the HPV shot (instead of the two or three shots previously recommended).
The biggest change is that vaccines for RSV, rotavirus, influenza, COVID-19, meningococcal disease, and hepatitis A and B are now only recommended for high-risk groups or after consulting with health care providers.
“Denmark is not the United States,” said Williams. “Everyone in that country has access to free universal health care. We [in the U.S.] are far from that. The closest thing we have to that is ACA [the Affordable Care Act] or Medi-Cal … for those who cannot afford health care insurance.”
Following the passage of H.R. 1, the U.S. government is expected to cut roughly $1 trillion in federal funding over 10 years for Medicaid – specifically, Medi-Cal in California. The cuts are expected to cause at least 11 million people to lose coverage, including low-income adults, seniors and children.
Also, an additional 2 to 4 million Americans could lose their health insurance in 2026 if Congress does not vote to extend federal ACA subsidies, which expired Dec. 31, 2025.
The CDC changes could also reinforce pre-existing vaccine fears (also referred to as vaccine hesitancy) that have been brewing for years, especially since 1998, when a medical journal published a later-debunked paper suggesting a link between the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine and autism, added Williams. The COVID-19 vaccine reinforced those fears.
“Over the last five years, because of all the discussion and controversy and fears about the COVID vaccine, more and more families are opting out of fully vaccinating their children, and this is alarming because it opens up the opportunity for there to be major outbreaks,” she said. Like last year’s measles outbreaks in the U.S., she noted, which were the largest in three decades.
Removing the vaccine recommendation for meningococcal disease is particularly concerning because over the last decade there have been meningitis outbreaks resulting in the deaths of many previously healthy young adults within 24 to 48 hours of getting sick, said Williams.
“We already have a population of people who are skeptical, who are nervous, who don’t know what to believe, [and] now we have to contend with recommendations coming from … the CDC indicating that the vaccines we have been encouraging patients to get, to protect them and their communities, are not as important as we say,” said Williams. She worries this has the potential to “create a big problem in the exam room, and undermines the doctor-patient relationship.”
“The doctor-patient relationship is all about building trust,” she explained.
Just days after the CDC announcement, the mother of one of her patients asked her about the new schedule because she didn’t know what she should do for her child. Williams replied by telling her that the previous vaccine schedule offers the best available protection for her child.
Williams also told her, “The people that are making the decisions about how vaccinations should occur are not even scientists. They’re not even doctors. Think about that: Who’s making the recommendations [and] where it’s coming from.”
The mother seemed reassured, but Williams worries that other parents won’t be open to having that conversation.
“I really do believe in listening to our patients, to their concerns, and trying to come up with a plan they are comfortable with, [and that] keeps their children safe,” she said.
For the time being, said Williams, the pediatric vaccine schedule has not changed in California.
“Vaccines remain one of the greatest achievements in modern medicine. … [California] will continue to follow the vaccine schedule recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), rather than adopting the new, arbitrary federal schedule,” read a statement released by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) following the CDC announcement.
Parents who want to safeguard their children with the original 18 vaccines still can in California, where the cost of all previously-recommended vaccines will continue to be covered by insurers and health plans regulated by the state.
In a statement, AAP President Dr. Andrew Racine described the changes to the immunization schedule as “dangerous and unnecessary.” Other major health organizations have also criticized the unprecedented move, including the American Medical Association (AMA), the American Public Health Association (APHA) and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).
Williams believes an increasing number of people distrust or forgo vaccines because most haven’t witnessed the devastating and sometimes deadly effects of diseases like polio or smallpox because vaccines have proven so effective at preventing them. Generations ago, she said, if a couple had three children, it was commonplace for them to lose at least one child.
“We don’t expect [that] anymore,” said Williams. “Vaccines aren’t foolproof, [but] they’re one of the best options available to help keep kids healthy.”
Photo: Dr. Anastasia Williams, director of pediatric medicine for San Fernando Community Health Center, said the new CDC schedule for childhood vaccinations raises “grave concerns.” (Photo courtesy of Dr. Anastasia William)
Original article by Maria Luisa Torres, San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol
Reprinted with permission by The San Fernando Sun/El Sol newspaper
