• Posted January 27, 2026

Doctors Turn to Pediatric Group's Vaccine Schedule After CDC Changes

Many children’s doctors say they will follow vaccine guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) narrowed its own recommendations this month.

On Monday, the AAP updated its recommendations for what shots kids should get. While the changes were small, including adding a new RSV vaccine, the timing is important.

“The AAP will continue to provide recommendations for immunizations that are rooted in science and are in the best interest of the health of infants, children and adolescents of this country,” AAP President Dr. Andrew Racine said.

More docs are now following the AAP recommendations instead of the CDC’s.

“The science hasn’t changed,” Dr. Claudia Hoyen, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at UH Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, told CNN. “We will continue to follow the science.”

The AAP recommends routine vaccines for RSV, hepatitis A and B, rotavirus, flu and meningococcal disease.

Twelve major medical groups back the AAP schedule, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Family Physicians.

The CDC’s new guidance says only higher-risk children should receive routine vaccines for meningococcal disease and hepatitis A and B. It also says flu, COVID and rotavirus shots should be decided through “shared clinical decision-making,” meaning parents must first talk with a doctor.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine critic, defended the changes.

“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," he said.

“This decision protects children, respects families and rebuilds trust in public health," Kennedy added.

Doctors counter that there is no new research showing these vaccines are unsafe or unnecessary.

“For now, unfortunately, we have to ignore everything about vaccines that is coming from our federal government,” Dr. Sean O’Leary, chair of the AAP’s Committee on Infectious Diseases, told CNN. “Parents should trust their pediatrician, trust the professional societies like the American Academy of Pediatrics.”

Several pediatricians told CNN they plan to follow the AAP schedule.

Dr. Sarah Elizabeth DeRoo, a pediatrician at Children’s National in Washington, D.C., said families are now asking more questions.

“We have families that come into our clinic that traditionally have been very accepting of vaccines and they want to know, ‘is this new recommendation, is this evidence-based, or do I need to think differently about these vaccines’ that they’ve accepted previously?” DeRoo said. “We’ve been giving messaging to our patients that we’re continuing to follow the recommended schedule by the American Academy of Pediatrics, which is an evidence-based schedule.”

Doctors say the mixed messages are causing fear and confusion.

“We are seeing the vaccine conversation come up more and more frequently because of fear of this and general misinformation spreading online,” Dr. Nina Alfieri, Continuity Clinic director with Lurie Children’s Pediatrics at Uptown in Chicago told CNN.

“We always want families to feel welcome coming to clinic with their questions,” Alfieri added.

An analysis from the health policy organization KFF found that as of Jan. 20, vaccine guidelines in 28 states differ from the federal schedule.

All states with Democratic governors said they would no longer follow the CDC guidelines. Only four Republican-led states have done the same.

“For the first time in our country, we’re going to have really varying laws, policies and attitudes about vaccines based on where people live,” Jen Kates of KFF said. “It’s a major sea change in public health policy.”

Hoyen, who has practiced medicine for 30 years, remembers when meningitis and mumps were common.

“There’s a reason why these vaccines were created," she said. "It’s to help kids thrive and not to have to worry about complications from these childhood illnesses.”

Dr. Adam Ratner, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at NYU Langone, said many younger doctors had never even seen diseases like measles, until outbreaks started appearing again.

“The idea of going backwards is horrifying because you don’t want to lose hard-won progress, but also because we’re not talking about something abstract,” Ratner said. “We’re talking about actual children and families.”

AAP’s Racine emphasized that routine childhood immunizations are an important step in the path to lifelong health.

“Every step you take alongside your child on that path is because you want them to grow up healthy and as a trusted partner on that journey, your pediatrician welcomes conversations about all your child’s health care, including immunizations,” he added.

More information

Learn more about the American Academy of Pediatrics immunization schedule.

SOURCE: CNN, Jan. 26, 2026