Dec 19 (Reuters) – The U.S. plans to scale back public health recommendations for most childhood vaccines and propose fewer shots, aiming to align with Denmark’s immunization model, the Washington Post reported on Friday, citing two people familiar with the matter.
Federal health officials are weighing vaccine guidance that would switch away from the current model in which the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention makes universal recommendations for which vaccines to give children. Instead, parents would consult with doctors before deciding on most shots, the report said, adding it remains unclear which shots would no longer be recommended.
The move to reduce vaccine recommendations for American children comes in response to a presidential memorandum issued by President Trump two weeks ago, calling on Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. and Acting CDC Director Jim O’Neill to align U.S. vaccination practices with peer countries.
As of Friday, the U.S. currently recommends children receive vaccines against 16 different diseases. They can also opt to receive shots for Hepatitis B and COVID-19. The CDC dropped its universal recommendation for the Hepatitis B shot this week.
Denmark recommends children be vaccinated against 10 diseases. In the United Kingdom, they are inoculated against 12 diseases and in Germany, children receive shots to prevent 15 diseases. Denmark also does not have a universal recommendation for Hepatitis B.
“Unless you hear from HHS directly, this is pure speculation,” a spokesperson for U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told Reuters.
CNN first reported on Thursday that HHS is planning to overhaul its childhood vaccine schedule to recommend fewer shots, aligning most likely with Denmark.
The Washington Post report said the move involves a fundamental shift in the way the CDC approaches public health recommendations.
Kennedy has been working to remake U.S. vaccination policy since his appointment as the country’s top health official. The country’s health agencies have already dropped broad recommendations for the COVID vaccine, cut funding for mRNA vaccines, and ended a long-standing recommendation that all U.S. newborns receive the hepatitis B vaccine.
(Reporting by Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Michael Erman; editing by Caroline Humer and David Gregorio)
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