LIMA, Ohio (WLIO) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is scaling back the number of vaccines it routinely recommends for children.
The list is dropping from 17 vaccines to 11. Several shots that were once recommended for all children — including hepatitis A and B, meningitis, COVID-19 and the flu — are now being recommended based on a child’s individual risk. That means parents are being encouraged to discuss the vaccines with their child’s doctor rather than automatically following a one-size-fits-all schedule.
The move comes as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has raised questions about vaccine safety, especially when it comes to children. Local health officials say families should talk with their pediatrician to decide whether their child is at higher risk for diseases tied to vaccines that are no longer routinely recommended.
“My advice to parents is continue to follow the vaccine schedule that's out there for the ones that are optional, start that conversation with your physician, your pediatrician, whomever, to really determine whether that is those additional vaccines are something that you need. Moving forward for your children, it's going to be a little bit of time before anything changes. Changes on the kindergarten and seventh grade vaccine requirements, but there may be some changes coming down the line there, but I still recommend these vaccines because they're safe, they're effective. They really do prevent a lot of disease from being caught and spread in the community,” said Brandon Fischer, health commissioner, Allen County Public Health.
Fischer stresses the vaccines themselves are still available and says the shift places more focus on shared decision-making between parents and doctors.
