What Parents Should Know About the CDC’s Recently Updated Vaccine Schedule

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new guidelines for childhood immunizations at the beginning of the year, but several prestigious medical associations have taken legal action in opposition of the new advice. The nearly universal position of clinical medical groups is that the CDC’s changes to the vaccine schedule are not in line with evidence and efficacy and would not offer children enough protection from preventable illnesses.

On January 5, the CDC released an updated childhood immunization schedule with changes to some of its vaccine recommendations. 

Two weeks later, several medical associations sued the CDC to get them to revert to the prior recommendations. The lawsuit was filed the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Physicians, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the American Public Health Association, the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and several other organizations.

After the CDC released its new childhood immunization schedule, 28 states said that they will not follow the updated guidance for one or more vaccines, according to a recent report from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland were among the states that said that they would disregard all of the CDC’s new vaccine recommendations.

Three ChristianaCare providers recently spoke about the CDC’s vaccine schedule updates during a recent Facebook Live event, to help parents understand what the changes mean for their families and whether ChristianaCare would follow the new guidance. Read on to learn what they discussed.

Medical Associations Support Previous Recommendations

A number of medical organizations oppose the CDC’s new recommendations, because the guidance is not backed with research or evidence. They say that the CDC released the guidelines without following established procedures for making vaccine schedule changes.

“[In the past, proposed changes, through the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices], have gone through extensive review, making sure that all the data being presented meets the high-quality data standards.” 
said Marci Drees, M.D., ChristianaCare’s Chief Infection Prevention Officer, who served as a liaison to ACIP in recent years. “The level of evidence that was presented was nowhere near what normally is presented…. All of that has gone out the window.”

The updated guidance may cause some parents to wonder if they should vaccinate their children with shots that have been given routinely to protect children from preventable illness.

“One of the dangers is that… people may interpret this as, ‘It’s optional,’” said Stephen Eppes, M.D., a pediatric infectious disease physician at ChristianaCare. “It’s been shown that using… a targeted vaccination approach [results in] much lower rates than if something is universally recommended.”

Although the CDC’s stance on certain vaccines has changed, the guidelines from professional medical associations have not.

“It’s really important that patients who are concerned about any change to talk about it with us,” said Jessica Fields, M.D., a maternal-fetal medicine physician at ChristianaCare. “Our clinical bodies have not changed recommendations, we’re still using that same body of evidence.” 

The Benefits of Vaccinations 

Vaccinations help protect children from harmful illnesses. Some vaccines that are offered to pregnant women can protect both mother and baby.  

“From the year 1994 to 2003, it was estimated that vaccines for kids in United States prevented over 500 million illnesses, over 30 million hospitalizations and over a million childhood deaths,” Eppes said. “[It’s a] long, proven track record. I think that speaks for itself.”

Communities as a whole also benefit when children are vaccinated. “Vaccines are one of those things where it affects not only you but the people around you, [like] elderly grandparents,” Drees said. “It is a societal benefit. We saw decreases in invasive pneumococcal disease in adults when we were only vaccinating children.”

How the CDC Recommendations May Impact Families

The CDC requires insurance companies to cover the cost of its recommended immunizations. For now, there are no changes to insurance coverage for childhood vaccines, based on the new recommendations.

“In the near term, they will still all be covered,” Drees said. “What happens after that is unknown.”

The CDC’s vaccine-related recommendations are not requirements that parents must honor. States have their own immunization mandates, which parents are required to follow before their children can attend daycare, public school or private school.

“They’re the ones making the decisions about which of the vaccines on this table should we mandate for school entry,” Drees said. “They typically have chosen the ones that are dangerous and can be spread easily in a school environment.”

When to Discuss Vaccinations with Providers 

If you have questions about vaccines or the recent changes to the CDC’s 
recommendations, talk to your child’s provider.

“There are many different resources that we can provide directly to our patients about vaccination,” Fields said. “We can go through… history on these diseases, why vaccinations work and why vaccinations are important. [We can talk] about what we can offer at different stages during pregnancy and then again postpartum, [for babies].”

ChristianaCare providers will continue to follow evidence-based immunization guidelines from respected professional medical organizations.

“We will be following the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Academy of Pediatrics,” Eppes said. “The recommendations that were out there will still be relevant, and that’s what we’ll be paying attention to.”

To make an appointment with a primary care provider or pediatrician, visit Primary Care or call 302-777-0643.