{"id":506709,"date":"2026-01-10T18:21:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T18:21:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/506709\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T18:21:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T18:21:12","slug":"changes-to-the-us-vaccine-recommendations-are-sowing-confusion-and-could-harm-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/506709\/","title":{"rendered":"Changes to the US vaccine recommendations are sowing confusion and could harm kids"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr. Molly O\u2019Shea has noticed growing skepticism about vaccines<\/a> at both of her Michigan pediatric offices and says this week\u2019s unprecedented and confusing changes to federal vaccine guidance will only make things worse.<\/p>\n

One of her offices is in a Democratic area, where more of the parents she sees are opting for alternative schedules that spread out shots<\/a>. The other is in a Republican area, where some parents have stopped immunizing<\/a> their children altogether.<\/p>\n

She and other doctors fear the new recommendations and the terminology around them will stoke vaccine hesitancy even more, pose challenges for pediatricians and parents that make it harder for kids to get shots, and ultimately lead to more illness and death<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The biggest change was to stop blanket recommendations for protection against six diseases and recommend those vaccines only for at-risk children or through something called \u201cshared clinical decision-making\u201d with a health care provider.<\/p>\n

The phrase, experts say, is confusing and dangerous: \u201cIt sends a message to a parent that actually there\u2019s only a rarefied group of people who really need the vaccine,\u201d O\u2019Shea said. \u201cIt\u2019s creating an environment that puts a sense of uncertainty about the value and necessity or importance of the vaccines in that category.\u201d<\/p>\n

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.<\/a>, who helped lead the anti-vaccine movement for years, said in announcing the changes that they better align the U.S. with peer nations \u201cwhile strengthening transparency and informed consent.\u201d<\/p>\n

But doctors say they are sowing doubt \u2014 the vaccines have been extensively studied and proven to be safe and effective at shielding kids from nasty diseases \u2014 at a time when childhood vaccination rates are already falling<\/a> and some of those infectious diseases<\/a> are spreading.<\/p>\n

On Friday, the American Academy of Pediatrics and more than 200 medical, public health and patient advocacy groups sent a letter to Congress<\/a> about the new childhood immunization schedule.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe urge you to investigate why the schedule was changed, why credible scientific evidence was ignored, and why the committee charged with advising the HHS Secretary on immunizations did not discuss the schedule changes as a part of their public meeting process,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n

Many don\u2019t know what \u2019shared decision-making\u2019 means<\/p>\n

O\u2019Shea said she and other pediatricians discuss vaccines with parents at every visit where they are given. But that\u2019s not necessarily \u201cshared clinical decision-making,\u201d which has a particular definition.<\/p>\n

On its website, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices says: \u201cUnlike routine, catch-up, and risk-based recommendations, shared clinical decision-making vaccinations are not recommended for everyone in a particular age group or everyone in an identifiable risk group. Rather, shared clinical decision-making recommendations are individually based and informed by a decision process between the health care provider and the patient or parent\/guardian.\u201d<\/p>\n

In this context, health care providers include primary care physicians, specialists, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, registered nurses and pharmacists.<\/p>\n

A pair of surveys conducted last year by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania suggested that many people don\u2019t fully understand the concept, which came up last year<\/a> when the federal government changed recommendations around COVID-19 vaccinations.<\/p>\n

Only about 2 in 10 U.S. adults knew that one meaning behind shared decision-making is that \u201ctaking the vaccine may not be a good idea for everyone but would benefit some.\u201d And only about one-third realized pharmacists count as health care providers to talk with during the process, even though they frequently administer vaccines.<\/p>\n

As of this week, vaccines that protect against hepatitis A, hepatitis B, rotavirus, RSV, flu and meningococcal disease are no longer universally recommended for kids. RSV, hepatitis A, hepatitis B and meningococcal vaccines are recommended for certain high-risk populations; flu, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B and meningococcal vaccines are recommended through shared decision-making \u2014 as is the COVID-19 vaccine, although that change was made last year.<\/p>\n

Shortly after the federal announcement Monday, Dr. Steven Abelowitz heard from half a dozen parents. \u201cIt\u2019s causing concern for us, but more importantly, concern for parents with kids, especially young kids, and confusion,\u201d said Abelowitz, founder of Ocean Pediatrics in Orange County, California.<\/p>\n

Though federal recommendations are not mandates \u2014 states have the authority to require vaccinations for schoolchildren \u2014 they can affect how easy it is for kids to get shots if doctors choose to follow them.<\/p>\n

Under the new guidelines, O\u2019Shea said, parents seeking shots in the shared decision-making category might no longer bring their kids in for a quick, vaccine-only appointment with staff. They\u2019d sit down with a health care provider and discuss the vaccine. And it could be tougher to have a flu clinic, where parents drive up and kids get shots without seeing a doctor.<\/p>\n

Staying the course as challenges mount<\/p>\n

Still, doctors say they won\u2019t let the changes stop them from helping children get the vaccines they need. Leading medical groups are sticking with prior vaccine recommendations. Many parents are, too.<\/p>\n

Megan Landry, whose 4-year-old son Zackary is one of O\u2019Shea\u2019s patients, is among them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my responsibility as a parent to protect my child\u2019s health and well-being,\u201d she said. \u201cVaccines are a really effective and well-studied way to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

She plans to keep having the same conversations she\u2019s always had with O\u2019Shea before getting vaccines for Zackary.<\/p>\n

\u201cRelying on evidence and trusted medical guidance really helps me to make those decisions,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd for me, it\u2019s not just a personal choice for my own son but a way to contribute to the health of everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

But for other families, confidence about vaccines is waning as trust in science erodes. O\u2019Shea lamented that parents are getting the message that they can\u2019t trust medical experts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I take my car to the mechanic, I don\u2019t go do my own research ahead of time,\u201d she said. \u201cI go to a person I trust and I trust them to tell me what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abelowitz, the California doctor, likened the latest federal move to pouring gasoline on a fire of mistrust that was already burning.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re worried the fire\u2019s out of control,\u201d he said. \u201cAlready we\u2019ve seen that with measles and pertussis, there are increased hospitalizations and even increasing deaths. So the way that I look at it \u2014 and my colleagues look at it \u2014 we\u2019re basically regressing decades.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute\u2019s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dr. Molly O\u2019Shea has noticed growing skepticism about vaccines at both of her Michigan pediatric offices and says…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":506710,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[3881,276,245,69,57,210,15006,1060,226891,226890,15010,159,226892,61,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-506709","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-ap-top-news","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-children","11":"tag-donald-trump","12":"tag-general-news","13":"tag-health","14":"tag-immunizations","15":"tag-medication","16":"tag-megan-landry","17":"tag-molly-oshea","18":"tag-robert-f-kennedy-jr","19":"tag-science","20":"tag-steven-abelowitz","21":"tag-u-s-news","22":"tag-united-states","23":"tag-unitedstates","24":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115872199044206803","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=506709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/506710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=506709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=506709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=506709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}