HHS Seeks Vaccine Category Input Before Sept. 20 as Trump Pushes Childhood Schedule Changes
Updated
Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Aug 25
HHS Seeks Vaccine Category Input Before Sept. 20 as Trump Pushes Childhood Schedule Changes
3 articles · Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Aug 25
Summary
HHS has opened a public comment process through Sept. 20 on redefining vaccine recommendation categories, including possible labels such as “recommended, but not during infancy” and “recommended with qualification.”
The review follows Trump’s executive order to curb childhood vaccinations and split the MMR shot, a move health experts say lacks scientific support and could lower immunization rates.
Current policy sorts vaccines into three groups—recommended for all, for at-risk people, or under shared clinical decision-making—but experts say shifting categories alone could sharply reduce routine use.
David Mandell of the University of Pennsylvania said weaker or more conditional labels could stop providers from routinely prompting patients, increasing parental hesitation without formally removing shots from the schedule.
The request marks the latest vaccine-policy overhaul under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; an earlier Trump effort to cut recommended childhood vaccines was blocked in March in a lawsuit led by the AAP.