By Jen Christensen, CNN
(CNN) — After the Trump administration announced sweeping changes to the US childhood vaccine schedule this week, parents and pediatricians are trying to make sense of what’s driving the change and how it will affect families.
Here’s what’s known so far:
How is the updated childhood vaccine schedule different?
The US Department of Health and Human Services is changing the childhood vaccine schedule — a set of recommendations from the federal government about what immunizations children should get and when — to scale back the number of vaccines broadly recommended for children.
These are recommendations, not mandates, but the schedule is typically used to guide which vaccines states require for day care or public school, as well as which vaccines are covered by insurance.
The new schedule recommends that healthy children get 11 vaccines — fewer than were previously recommended broadly.
Vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella, polio, chickenpox, HPV and others continue to be broadly recommended. But there are narrower recommendations for vaccination against meningococcal disease, hepatitis B and hepatitis A to children who are at higher risk for infections.
They recommend that choices on vaccinations against flu, Covid-19 and rotavirus be based on “shared clinical decision-making,” which means people who want one must consult with a health care provider first.
Will insurance still cover children’s vaccines?
HHS says insurers will still have to cover all vaccines recommended by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as of December 31, 2025, without cost-sharing. Parents may incur additional costs if they have to speak to a health care provider first.
Can children be vaccinated according to previous CDC schedules?
The vaccine schedule is a set of recommendations from federal officials. It doesn’t make kids get certain shots, nor does it forbid them from getting others. So parents should technically be able to get their children vaccinated according to the previous schedule.
Experts say it’s especially important now to have a good conversation with the child’s pediatrician about what shots they suggest.
“Parents should trust their pediatrician, trust the professional societies like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians. But for now, unfortunately, we have to ignore everything about vaccines that is coming from our federal government,” said Dr. Sean O’Leary, chair of the American Association of Pediatrics’ Committee on Infectious Diseases.
The AAP says it will continue to publish its own Recommended Child and Adolescent Immunization Schedule, which is much broader than the government’s shortened list. It includes a yearly flu shot and updated Covid-19 vaccinations.
What will change when I take my child to the doctor?
O’Leary, who’s also a pediatrician in Colorado, thinks things shouldn’t change too much here. Most pediatricians will continue to follow the broader AAP schedule, he says, but adding so many vaccines to the “shared decision-making” category has created some confusion among clinicians.
Some medical practices may take additional steps such as having parents sign documents that say they acknowledge the shots are now in a different category. It may also be a little harder to find some of those vaccines.
In previous years, when a handful of shots fell into the “shared decision-making” category, medical offices didn’t always keep those in stock, O’Leary said. “But this move by the government is unprecedented, so it’s hard to predict what will happen.”
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