{"id":24121,"date":"2026-01-06T07:30:06","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T12:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/2026\/01\/06\/nbc-6-south-florida-20\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T07:30:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T12:30:07","slug":"nbc-6-south-florida-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/2026\/01\/06\/nbc-6-south-florida-20\/","title":{"rendered":"NBC 6 South Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Changes to Childhood Vaccine Recommendations<\/h1>\n<p>The U.S. health officials have made significant changes to childhood vaccine recommendations, effective immediately. These changes have raised concerns among pediatricians and medical experts, who believe they will create confusion and compromise children&#8217;s health. <\/p>\n<h2>Background<\/h2>\n<p>The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now recommends that all children get vaccinated against 11 diseases, down from 18 a year ago. This overhaul comes as U.S. vaccination rates have been declining, and the share of children with exemptions has reached an all-time high. Rates of diseases that can be protected against with vaccines, such as measles and whooping cough, are also on the rise.<\/p>\n<h2>Changes to Vaccine Recommendations<\/h2>\n<p>The federal government has revised its recommendations for childhood vaccinations. Certain vaccines are no longer recommended for all children but may still be advised for those at high risk or based on individual doctor advice through &quot;shared decision-making.&quot; These include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Flu<\/li>\n<li>Hepatitis A<\/li>\n<li>Hepatitis B<\/li>\n<li>Meningococcal disease<\/li>\n<li>Rotavirus<\/li>\n<li>RSV<\/li>\n<li>COVID-19, a change made in 2025<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Vaccines That Remain Recommended<\/h2>\n<p>Some vaccines remain on the recommended-for-all list:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR)<\/li>\n<li>Diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis or whooping cough (DTaP)<\/li>\n<li>Polio<\/li>\n<li>Chickenpox<\/li>\n<li>Human papillomavirus (HPV), though the guidance reduces the number of recommended doses from two or three shots to just one<\/li>\n<li>Hib, or Haemophilus influenzae type B<\/li>\n<li>PCV or pneumococcal conjugate vaccine<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Reason for the Changes<\/h2>\n<p>The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) made these changes in response to a request from President Donald Trump to review how peer nations approach vaccine recommendations and consider revising U.S. guidance accordingly. HHS found that the U.S. was an &quot;outlier&quot; in both the number of vaccinations and the number of doses it recommended to all children. The agency aims to increase public trust by recommending only the most important vaccinations for children.<\/p>\n<h2>Reaction from Medical Professionals<\/h2>\n<p>The American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics have expressed concerns, stating they will continue to recommend the vaccines that have been demoted. They argue there is no new science to warrant these changes and that the former U.S. vaccine schedule did not harm children. Dr. Sean O&#8217;Leary of the AAP fears these changes could increase child illness and death from preventable diseases, particularly with the flu season becoming severe.<\/p>\n<h2>Impact on Families<\/h2>\n<p>It&#8217;s unclear how these changes will affect families directly, as pediatricians may continue to recommend the vaccines based on their professional guidelines. However, the lack of federal recommendation for certain vaccines may lead to more questions from parents and potentially more difficult conversations at the doctor&#8217;s office. If fewer children are vaccinated, outbreaks could spread more widely, leading to more disease and missed school and work days.<\/p>\n<h2>Insurance Coverage<\/h2>\n<p>The Trump administration has stated that insurance coverage for vaccines will continue for families who still want the shots. Health insurers generally support vaccination as it is cheaper than hospitalizations, and many had planned to cover what was recommended last year through 2026.<\/p>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>The changes to childhood vaccine recommendations have significant implications for public health. While the intention behind the overhaul is to increase public trust by streamlining vaccine recommendations, medical professionals warn of potential increased risk of preventable diseases. The impact on families and the healthcare system will depend on how these changes are implemented and perceived by the public.<\/p>\n<h2>FAQs<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Q: Why were the vaccine recommendations changed?<\/strong><br \/>\nA: The changes were made in response to a review of how peer nations approach vaccine recommendations, aiming to increase public trust by recommending only the most important vaccinations.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Q: Which vaccines are no longer recommended for all children?<\/strong><br \/>\nA: Vaccines for flu, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, meningococcal disease, rotavirus, RSV, and COVID-19 are no longer universally recommended but may be advised for high-risk individuals.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Q: Will insurance still cover vaccines?<\/strong><br \/>\nA: Yes, the Trump administration has stated that insurance coverage for vaccines will continue for families who still want the shots.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Q: What do pediatricians and medical experts say about the changes?<\/strong><br \/>\nA: Many express concern that the changes could lead to increased illness and death from preventable diseases, as there is no new science to support these revisions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Changes to Childhood Vaccine Recommendations The U.S. health officials have made significant changes to childhood vaccine recommendations, effective immediately. These changes have raised concerns among pediatricians and medical experts, who believe they will create confusion and compromise children&#8217;s health. Background The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now recommends that all children get [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":24123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-24121","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-wellness"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/media.nbcmiami.com\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-2249273537-e1767663234905.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=4000,2253&w=1920&resize=1920,1081&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24121"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24121"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24124,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24121\/revisions\/24124"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}