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AAP Challenges CDC on Crucial Vaccine Guidance
27 Jan
Summary
- AAP recommends 18 vaccines; CDC cut recommendations to 11.
- AAP calls CDC guidance 'dangerous and unnecessary'.
- Pediatricians will follow AAP, urging open communication.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released its latest childhood vaccine recommendations on Monday, a move that sharply contrasts with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) guidance issued earlier this month. The AAP is advocating for immunizations against 18 diseases, including RSV and hepatitis, while the CDC had reduced its recommendations to cover only 11 diseases.
In a statement, AAP President Andrew Racine affirmed the organization's dedication to science-rooted recommendations for infant, child, and adolescent health. Dr. Amanda Kravitz of Weill Cornell Medicine confirmed that the AAP's advice aligns with long-standing practices, ensuring no changes to the traditional vaccine schedule. Both organizations concur on essential vaccines like diphtheria, pertussis, polio, and MMR.
The CDC's adjusted guidance suggested limiting vaccines for RSV, hepatitis A and B, and meningococcal disease to high-risk children. The AAP, however, endorses these vaccines for all children, with a noted exception for the dengue vaccine, recommending it only for specific age groups in endemic areas. The AAP has strongly criticized the CDC's updated schedule as "dangerous and unnecessary."
Despite the CDC's changes, insurance is expected to continue covering vaccines not explicitly recommended by the agency, such as the flu and COVID-19 vaccines, provided parents wish for their children to receive them. This divergence follows a recent CDC panel's recommendation to delay the first hepatitis B vaccine dose for some newborns, a decision that has drawn scrutiny.
