• The CDC has reduced childhood vaccine recommendations from 17 to 10.
• Vaccines for rotavirus, influenza, and others now require shared decision-making.
• Health officials express concern over the potential for increased disease rates.

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced a significant overhaul of its childhood immunization guidelines, dropping the number of recommended vaccines from 17 to 10. This revision aligns more closely with vaccine schedules in other developed nations, reflecting recommendations for vaccines such as polio and measles while categorizing others like hepatitis A and influenza for "shared clinical decision-making" between medical providers and parents, as noted in reports from Reuters and BBC.

This decision has been met with substantial criticism from medical groups, who highlight the decision's hasty implementation under the Trump administration led by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a known vaccine skeptic. Alarms were raised by leaders from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association (AMA), emphasizing the urgency for rigorous, evidence-based guidelines to protect public health. "When longstanding recommendations are altered without a robust, evidence-based process, it undermines public trust and puts children at unnecessary risk of preventable disease,” stated Sandra Adamson Fryhofer from the AMA, citing concerns echoed by Le Monde and Al Jazeera.