Make Children Dead Again: RFK Jr. removes 6 diseases from vaccine schedule, stops requiring states to report the rest

Presented without comment. via Chelsea Cirruzzo and Helen Branswell of STAT News:

Federal health officials are unilaterally reducing the number of recommended pediatric immunizations in response to an order from President Trump, the most significant reshaping of the vaccine schedule since Trump took office and empowered health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime critic of childhood shots. 

...The new schedule pares down the number of recommended vaccines from 17 to 11, recommends some vaccines only for “high-risk” individuals, and says that some other vaccines, such as those for flu and rotavirus, can be given through “shared clinical decision-making.”

...A panel of vaccine advisors handpicked by Kennedy recently recommended that the hepatitis B birth dose be delayed until a baby is at least 2 months old. However, that panel, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, was not consulted on the changes announced Monday, officials said...

Vaccine experts have warned that the actions the agency is taking will create chaos in pediatricians’ offices around the country and discourage parents from using demonstrably safe vaccines to protect their children against dangerous diseases. 

...Meningitis, hepatitis A and B, dengue, and respiratory syncytial virus vaccines will only be recommended for “high-risk” groups. ...Parents will be able to choose to get their children vaccinated against rotavirus, Covid-19, flu, meningitis, and hepatitis A and B under “shared clinical decision-making.”  

Jernigan said pediatricians will be hard pressed to meet the demand for extra visits such a policy will require. “By making these vaccines a shared clinical decision making, it introduces one more barrier that prevents a child from getting a life-saving vaccine,” he said.

“This new policy has not been vetted with pediatricians, the public, or the ACIP,” he said.

UPDATE: OK, here's a comment....from Republican Senator, doctor and Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee Bill Cassidy, who was also the deciding vote on confirming RFK Jr. as HHS Secretary:

As a doctor who treated patients for decades, my top priority is protecting children and families. Multiple children have died or were hospitalized from measles, and South Carolina continues to face a growing outbreak. Two children have died in my state from whooping cough. All of this was preventable with safe and effective vaccines.

The vaccine schedule IS NOT A MANDATE. It’s a recommendation giving parents the power. Changing the pediatric vaccine schedule based on no scientific input on safety risks and little transparency will cause unnecessary fear for patients and doctors, and will make America sicker.

Probably should've thought of that a year ago, asshole.

UPDATE: As for the remaining 11 vaccines which survived the chopping block, via Liz Szabo, MA at the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy in Minnesota:

States will no longer be required to report how many children they vaccinate to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), according to a December 30 letter to state health officials.

As a measure of the quality of the care, states have been required to report the percentage of patients covered by Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Plan who are immunized.

About 40% of children are covered by Medicaid, a federal health program administered by states for people with low incomes, pregnant women, those with disabilities, and others. CHIP provides health insurance to children whose families do not qualify for Medicaid.

...The change comes amid efforts by US Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s efforts to restrict access to vaccines.

...“If CMS makes this change, it will become harder to understand gaps in vaccination that leave communities exposed to outbreaks of serious and even deadly infectious diseases,” Sharfstein told CIDRAP News. 

...If CMS makes this change, it will become harder to understand gaps in vaccination that leave communities exposed to outbreaks of serious and even deadly infectious diseases.