US drops recommendation of flu vaccination for children

The United States has ended its longstanding guidance that all children receive vaccines against flu and three other diseases, a sweeping change that advances one of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s long-term goals.

Public health experts warn the latest rollback could lead to preventable hospitalisations and deaths.

The action on Monday, approved by Acting Director Jim O’Neill of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention without the agency’s usual outside expert review, advances Kennedy’s campaign to pare back childhood vaccinations.

President Donald Trump in December urged the US to “align with other developed nations” by reducing the number of shots for children.

Kennedy, a prominent vaccine sceptic, has previously led efforts to drop universal recommendations for COVID-19 and hepatitis B shots for children, citing links to autism that scientists have repeatedly debunked.

The action removes the recommendation for rotavirus, influenza, meningococcal disease and hepatitis A, and states that parents should consult healthcare providers under what it calls shared clinical decision-making.

Vaccine experts decried the changes they said put American children at risk.

Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, said there should have been public discussion on the risks and benefits of the potential ?impact of dropping the recommendations.

Sean O’Leary, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said other developed countries face different disease risks and have different healthcare systems than the United States does. Unlike the US, ?which depends on private healthcare, most countries provide basic universal healthcare that is paid for by the government.

“Any decision about the US childhood vaccination schedule should be grounded in evidence, transparency and established scientific processes, not comparisons that overlook critical differences between countries or health systems,” he said.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt on X described it as a move that would empower parents and physicians to make the best individualised decisions for children while also restoring much-needed confidence in the public health system.