CDC Updates Childhood Vaccine Recommendations List (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Yesterday, health officials under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dramatically updated the list of broadly recommended vaccines for kids. Before, the CDC recommended that kids should get vaccinated against like 16 to 18 different diseases, and now the recommendations broadly are for 11. This is all part of a move directed by President Trump to try to make the U.S. vaccine schedule more similar to other countries and specifically Denmark's. Now, outside experts are saying this is a bad idea because Denmark is a very different country than the United States. The U.S. still recommends routine vaccination against things like measles, mumps, and rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis or whooping cough, but they no longer broadly recommend vaccination for diseases like rotavirus, hepatitis, and flu. Some of those recommendations are changing for just folks in high-risk groups, while others are going to a category known as individual-based decision-making, which essentially says talk with your doctor, decide whether you want to get this vaccine. It's really important to know that the CDC's list of recommended vaccines are not a list of mandates. That's up to the states to decide which vaccines are required for schools, for example. The CDC just makes recommendations. It's also really important to know that the Department of Health and Human Services says that insurance should still cover all of these vaccines, so costs shouldn't be an issue for people. But what experts are worried about is that this will confuse people and lead to lower vaccination rates against dangerous diseases, putting kids in danger unnecessarily. Experts recommend looking to outside groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics for vaccine guidance.