Citing Denmark as an example, the Trump Administration has issued revised guidance on childhood vaccination policy that lowers the number of immunisations recommended for all children from 2026 onward. The guidance was issued on 5 January and generated critiques from multiple sources who argued that the review lacked transparency. This was disputed by the Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr who said the changes followed “an exhaustive review of the evidence” and aligned US vaccine policy with that of other developed nations.
The guidance organises the national immunisation programme into three categories. These are vaccines recommended for all children; vaccines recommended for certain high-risk groups or populations, and those recommended under a joint agreement between an individual and a healthcare provider. Insurance companies will be required to cover vaccines in all three categories without demanding that recipients share the costs.
The government is recommending 11 vaccines for all children, down from 17 previously. This brings the level closer to that of Denmark which immunises children against 10 diseases each year. The new US list consists of vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella, polio, pertussis, tetanus, diphtheria, haemophilus influenza type B (Hib), pneumococcal disease, human papillomavirus (HPV) and varicella (chickenpox).
By contrast, vaccines for respiratory syncytial virus, which usually causes cold-like symptoms, but in some cases can lead to pneumonia, and dengue, a virus transmitted by mosquitoes, will be recommended for certain high-risk populations.
According to a government report issued on 2 January, the US recommended more childhood vaccines than any peer nation in 2024. The report went on to say that every disease cited by the US child immunisation schedule poses a health risk, but the level of risk varies by disease and sometimes by underlying risk factors. The mere existence of a vaccine does not automatically make it appropriate for every child, nor justify routine vaccination, the report said.
Secretary Kennedy is among many vaccine sceptics who has criticised the use of vaccines to prevent multiple infections including most recently, infection from the Covid-19 virus. This view is reflected in the report which says that public trust in public health institutions was damaged during the pandemic by mandates claiming vaccines were superior to infection-acquired immunity.
Separately, the updated immunisation schedule also recommends that the safety and efficacy of new vaccines be confirmed through double-blind placebo controlled randomised trials as well the use of more observational studies. This policy was rebuked by 12 former commissioners of the Food and Drug Administration in early December 2025 as upending current practice for updating existing vaccines with new ones by way of a shorter procedure. Their critique was published in The New England Journal of Medicines.
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