Doctors offer rival childhood vaccine schedule to Trump administration's

The medical association representing pediatricians broke with the Centers for Disease Control on childhood immunizations Monday, issuing revised recommendations against 18 diseases that contrast with the Trump administration's recently slimmed-down vaccine schedule.

Why it matters: The American Academy of Pediatrics' guidance is largely unchanged from 2025 but reflects the deepening rift between the federal government and medical establishment over inoculating kids.

• A dozen medical and health care organizations endorsed the group's recommendations.

What's inside: The pediatricians' schedule continues broad endorsements of vaccines targeting RSV, hepatitis A and B, rotavirus, influenza, meningococcal disease, measles and pertussis.

• It also stresses the importance of measles vaccines in light of recent outbreaks, noting more than 2,200 measles cases and three associated deaths in the past year.

What they're saying: "It is important that we have a stable, trusted, evidence-based immunization schedule to follow," said Pia Pannaraj, a member of the AAP Committee on Infectious Diseases and a professor of pediatrics at the University of California San Diego.

The other side: A Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson said: "AAP is angry that CDC eliminated corporate influence in vaccine recommendations by reconstituting the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices."

• "The updated CDC childhood schedule continues to protect children against serious diseases while aligning U.S. guidance with international norms," the spokesperson said.

The Trump administration early this month dramatically overhauled the federal childhood vaccination schedule, cutting the number of recommended shots to 11 to reflect what it called "consensus among peer nations."

• CDC now recommends that parents consult with physicians before vaccinating children for rotavirus, COVID-19, influenza, meningococcal disease, hepatitis A and hepatitis B.
• It continued to recommend that all children be vaccinated against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, influenza type B, pneumonia, polio, measles, mumps and rubella, as well as human papillomavirus and chickenpox, or varicella.

The AAP has sparred with the administration before, joining a lawsuit last July challenging Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s changes to COVID-19 vaccine policy and his decision to replace the CDC's vaccine advisors.