Health groups ask Congress to investigate changes to childhood vaccine schedule

More than 230 organizations comprising clinicians, scientists, public health professionals and patient groups implored Congress to undertake “swift and robust oversight” of changes made to the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC last week reduced the number of universally recommended childhood vaccines from 17 to 11. The organizations’ letter says the changes were not based on credible scientific evidence and were issued without public input, stakeholder review or discussion by the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. The organizations say these changes may create confusion among clinicians and families, decrease vaccination rates and lead to increases in hospitalizations, outbreaks and deaths from the diseases vaccines prevent. (MedPage Today article, 1/12/26)