US health department plans to change childhood vaccine schedule
The US Department of Health and Human Services is planning to overhaul the schedule of recommended vaccines for children in the US, a person familiar with the plans told CNN on Thursday, reports BritPanorama.
The proposed new schedule would recommend fewer shots, aligning more closely with recommendations from other developed countries, particularly Denmark. According to the insider, the new schedule may eventually mirror Denmark’s, although the plan remains subject to change.
Although HHS had initially planned to announce the revised schedule on Friday, the announcement has been postponed until 2026 to avoid conflicting with upcoming White House plans aimed at reducing drug costs through “Most Favored Nation” pricing.
An HHS spokesperson declined to comment but referenced an earlier statement indicating that an announcement regarding children’s health has been postponed until next year.
This impending overhaul comes just weeks after President Donald Trump directed officials to review the US childhood vaccine schedule with the aim of recommending fewer shots.
In response, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. acknowledged the directive in a message on X, stating, “Thank you, Mr. President. We’re on it.”
Denmark’s 2025 vaccine schedule, as published by the European Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, indicates that the country recommends immunization against fewer infectious diseases than the US. For instance, Denmark does not currently recommend vaccination against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) for children, while the US does. RSV is the leading cause of hospitalization in infants.
Additionally, Denmark does not endorse the rotavirus, pneumococcal, hepatitis A, meningococcal, or chickenpox vaccines, which are included in the US schedule. Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, expressed skepticism: “Why would we ever want to emulate that? They made a financial decision. They decided to allow that degree of suffering and hospitalization. They didn’t want to spend that much money per hospitalization prevented.”
Dr. Tracy Beth Hoeg recently presented on the Danish vaccine schedule at a meeting of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisers. She suggested that Denmark may excel in vaccine recommendations due to a culture that avoids politicizing the discussion: “It’s not a politicized discussion,” said Hoeg, who holds dual citizenship in the US and Denmark.
During recent discussions, Dr. Adam Langer of the CDC raised objections to comparing the United States with Denmark, highlighting significant population differences and healthcare systems. He noted that more than 95% of pregnant women in Denmark are screened for hepatitis B, significantly higher than in the US. Moreover, prenatal care in Denmark is free for all, including refugees and asylum-seekers, a contrast to the US system.
Other key distinctions pointed out by Langer include Denmark’s national health registry and the follow-up mechanisms for pregnant women who test positive for hepatitis B, ensuring infants receive vaccinations and appropriate testing. “Denmark and, for that matter, virtually all other high-income countries are not really peer nations,” he concluded.
In response, Hoeg maintained that risk levels for infants do not differ substantially across the two countries based on health care disparities, citing her own experiences raising children in both nations.
“As a mother of children who were born in Denmark, moving to the United States, they were low-risk there, they were low-risk here. I couldn’t understand why you would use a vaccine in one country but not the other for the same level of risk,” she asserted, emphasizing parental frustration over vaccination policies in light of perceived risks.
