Early this week, the Trump administration announced it was dropping certain vaccines from the list of recommended shots for kids.
Under the new plan, the schedule will drop from 17 vaccines to 11. Those that will no longer be on the schedule include hepatitis A and B, influenza, meningitis, RSV and rotavirus.
“President Trump directed us to examine how other developed nations protect their children and to take action if they are doing better,” said Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in a press release. “After an exhaustive review of the evidence, we are aligning the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule with international consensus while strengthening transparency and informed consent. This decision protects children, respects families, and rebuilds trust in public health.”
Dr. John Burson, a pediatrician and the medical director for the Children’s Mercy with Mercy program in Springfield, is concerned about the broad impact this could have.
“I am worried that there’s a lot of misinformation and disinformation in just the media in general, politically, when organizations like the ACIP come out and make broad statements about vaccines, it just undermines trust, and it makes people worried or concerned about vaccines and vaccine safety,” he said.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and other organizations still support the traditional schedule, according to Burson. He said pediatricians will continue to educate parents about diseases that could impact their children.
“We’re trying to prevent the relative risk for the patients and just work with families to come to an understanding about not only the diseases that are out there, but the risks of their children and what role vaccines play in that.”
The flu vaccine was one that was taken off the list. What concerns Burson is that the vaccine can prevent serious illness in both kids and adults. The Influenza A strain is circulating now, and Burson said one study suggests that up to 25% of kids who get it will end up with a complication like sinus and ear infections and pneumonias.
Burson also pointed out that vaccinating children against influenza and other illnesses also protects parents and grandparents.
"One of the big benefits to a robust vaccination program," he said, "is not only preventing disease in children, but preventing disease throughout society, especially throughout the rest of the family unit."
The vaccine for meningitis was also removed. While it’s a rare illness now because of vaccines, Burson worries we could see an uptick down the road.
“Vaccines are their own worst enemies,” he said, referring to their success rate. “The rate of meningitis disease has dropped dramatically since we have universally implemented vaccination in junior high and high school.”
“Because we’re successful with the vaccine, it’s very rare to see it today, doesn’t mean that it’s going to stay that way if we stop vaccinating,” he said.
He encourages parents to talk with their health care providers to determine what’s best for their families.
"If you're uncertain, let them know that you're uncertain, and have them discuss with you the rationale for the vaccines, the illnesses that they're covering, and just answer the questions that you may have," he said.
Springfield-Greene County Health Department
The Springfield-Greene County Health Department isn’t yet sure how it will be impacted by a change in the recommended vaccines for kids.
The Department’s Immunization Clinic currently offers all recommended vaccines for children. It serves both adults and kids who aren’t eligible for Medicaid and who are uninsured.
Assistant Director of Health Jon Mooney said they don’t have much information yet.
“Obviously, that is a fairly significant change from the immunization schedule that was previously in place,” he said. “As far as how that’s going to affect our actual immunization clinic, we don’t have those details yet. It takes a little bit of time for the federal government to make those changes, update those changes. They’ll then communicate that with the state and then the state typically will communicate with us. So it’ll probably take a little bit before we know how that affects our immunization clinic here within the department.”
He said they still don’t know the impact on availability of certain vaccines or funding associated with them.
This highlights the need for parents to have a primary care provider that they can talk to about what’s right for them and their children, according to Mooney, and he encourages parents to ask questions.
The health department is currently working to create an online platform that can help answer questions people might have about public health, he said.
