IDSA and over 200 health organizations urge Congress to conduct oversight of changes to vaccine schedule

January 9, 2026

Dear [Senator/Representative]:

The undersigned organizations, representing health care clinicians, public health professionals, scientists, patients, and family advocates, urge you to conduct swift and robust oversight regarding the abrupt changes to the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule announced on Jan. 5, 2026. It is essential that action is promptly taken to protect vaccine availability and coverage for all previously recommended immunizations for all families, including through the Vaccines for Children program.

This week’s overhaul of the childhood vaccine schedule was not based on credible evidence. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that the U.S. would now follow a vaccine schedule that appears to be modeled after guidance used in Denmark. However, the prior U.S. recommendations have been effective in keeping children healthy: studies estimate that from 1994 to 2023, routine childhood vaccinations have prevented approximately 508 million cases of illness, 32 million hospitalizations, and over 1 million deaths in the United States. ¹ In addition, vaccine recommendations are largely based on a population’s risk of exposure to a disease and how that disease impacts health.

HHS’s decision to dismantle a credible childhood vaccine schedule will create even greater confusion for families and health care professionals, and leave more people unprotected against serious vaccine-preventable diseases. These changes lack a clear scientific basis and were made without following the standard process, which ensures transparency and input from the public and key stakeholders. Usually, a multidisciplinary team of experts, part of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), reviews new data about vaccines and disease trends and makes recommendations to federal officials. Last year, the HHS Secretary fired every member of this committee and appointed numerous people who have expressed doubts about the benefits of vaccines in their place. And yet even this newly constituted committee was not afforded the opportunity to publicly discuss this schedule before it was announced.

We urge you to investigate why the schedule was changed, why credible scientific evidence was ignored, and why the committee charged with advising the HHS Secretary on immunizations did not discuss the schedule changes as a part of their public meeting process.

Under HHS’s new schedule, numerous vaccines proven to reduce hospitalizations, serious illness and chronic health issues are no longer routinely recommended for children.

1 https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/73/wr/mm7331a2.htm
 
Specifically, rotavirus, COVID-19, influenza, meningococcal disease, hepatitis A, and hepatitis B are all downgraded to an unsupported “shared clinical decision making” (SCDM) designation. Immunizations for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and meningococcal disease are now included in a new category, “Immunizations recommended for Certain High-Risk Groups or Populations.” And while communities across the country endure increasing hospitalizations and deaths from seasonal flu, including the deaths of nine children in the last few months, federal health officials are now no longer recommending the flu vaccine for children.

Further, insurance coverage for this new three-tiered recommended schedule is not guaranteed under existing statutory and payer frameworks, particularly for those vaccines now falling under an SCDM designation. Downgrading from designating vaccines as recommended for a population to instead saying they are left to SCDM may undermine liability protections under the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP), and calls into question whether those vaccines are still covered by the program.

The confusion and chaos caused by these changes may make parents doubt the benefits of vaccines and delay or skip these vaccines for their children, with devastating and foreseeable impacts, including:

• Increased hospitalizations and deaths due to influenza, including pediatric deaths, like those recently reported in Illinois and Massachusetts, when the U.S. is already facing more influenza cases and lower influenza vaccine rates compared to this time last year.
• Reversal of progress on rotavirus, for which routine vaccination, in just the first five years after it was introduced (2007-2011), averted an average annual 280,000 clinic visits, 62,000 emergency department visits, and 45,000 hospitalizations for commercially insured U.S. children under 5.²
• Negative impacts to community immunity levels for babies too young to be vaccinated and the millions of Americans with weakened immune systems (such as people with cancer and organ transplants) and other risk factors who rely on high rates of vaccination for protection.

Any changes to the recommended immunization schedule, particularly changes of such great magnitude, should be made through a transparent public process through which the scientific data underpinning any potential changes is made public and carefully reviewed by experts. Critically, vaccine recommendations must be based upon the best available scientific data. The recent changes announced to the U.S. immunization schedule do not

_{2 https://www.cdc.gov/pinkbook/hcp/table-of-contents/chapter-19-rotavirus.html#:~:text=The%20marked%20reduction%20in%20rotavirus%20disease%20burden%20in%20th e%20United,age%20for%20the%20final%20dose}
 
meet these standards, greatly failing any test for “gold-standard science,” which is critical to protect public health and earn public trust.

We urge you to conduct swift and robust oversight regarding the abrupt changes to the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule and its ramifications to our nation’s vaccine infrastructure and children’s health. Our organizations stand ready to help your efforts. We appreciate your attention to this issue, and we look forward to working with you to protect your constituents’ access to life-saving vaccines.

Sincerely,

National Organizations

317 Coalition
Academic Pediatric Association American Academy of Pediatrics
Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators
Academy of Perinatal Harm Reduction
ATF: Education, Healthcare, Public Services
Allergy & Asthma Network
Alliance for Aging Research
Alliance for Women’s Health and Prevention American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology American Academy of Emergency Medicine American Academy of Family Physicians
American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases American Association of Colleges of Nursing American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) American Association of Immunologists
American Association of Nurse Practitioners American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists American Association on Health and Disability American College of Nurse-Midwives
American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians American College of Preventive Medicine
American College of Physicians American College of Rheumatology American Families for Vaccines
American Gastroenterological Association American Geriatrics Society
American Kidney Fund American Lung Association
American Pediatric Society American Public Health Association
American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science (ASCLS) American Society for Meningitis Prevention
American Society for Microbiology
American Society for Reproductive Medicine American Society of Hematology
American Society of Pediatric Nephrology American Thoracic Society
America's Physician Groups AMR.Solutions
Arthritis Foundation
Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF)
Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)
Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America
Autism Science Foundation Autistic Self Advocacy Network Big Cities Health Organization
Cancer Nation (formerly National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship) Caregiver Action Network
Center for Disease Analysis Foundation Children with Diabetes
Community Catalyst
Council of Medical Specialty Societies
Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
Defend Public Health
Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) Emergency Nurses Association
Emily Stillman Foundation END SEPSIS
Endocrine Society Families Fighting Flu Families USA Generations United
Georgetown University Center for Children and Families Gerontological Society of America
GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ+ Equality Global Coalition on Aging
Global Healthy Living Foundation Global Liver Institute Grandparents for Vaccines
Hand to Hold HealthHIV
Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association
Hepatitis B Foundation HIV Medicine Association
Immune Deficiency Foundation
Infectious Diseases Society of America
Infectious Diseases Society for Obstetrics and Gynecology
International Vaccine Access Center, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Justice in Aging
Kimberly Coffey Foundation
Lakeshore Foundation
Lupus and Allied Diseases Association, Inc. March of Dimes
NASTAD
National Alliance for Caregiving
National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners National Association of School Nurses
National Coalition for Infant Health National Coalition of STD Directors National Consumers League
National Foundation for Infectious Diseases National Health Council
National Hispanic Council on Aging National Hispanic Health Foundation
National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA) National Kidney Foundation
National Medical Association
National Network of Public Health Institutes National PLACE
National Public Health Coalition (NPHC) National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable (NVHR) Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC) Society Neuropathy Action Foundation
NICU Parent Network NMAC
North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology
North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
NTM Info & Research, Inc. Nurses For America Nurses Who Vaccinate
Partnership for Innovation and Empowerment Partnership to Fight Infectious Disease Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society Pediatric Policy Council
Peggy Lillis Foundation Preemie Adventures PreemieWorld Foundation Inc. Prevent Blindness
Protect Our Care
Pro-Vaccine Legal Alliance
Public Health Foundation RetireSafe
SCL-Global Policy Initiative Sepsis Alliance
Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Society for Pediatric Research Society for Public Health Education
Society of Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) Society of Hospital Medicine
Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists SPAN Parent Advocacy Network (SPAN) The AIDS Institute
The Arc of the United States The J.A.M.I.E. Group
The National Partnership for Women and Families The Task Force for Global Health
TranactRx
Trust for America's Health United Spinal Association Vaccinate Your Family
Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Vaccine Integrity Project
Voices of Alzheimer’s Youth Rally Committee Inc.

State Organizations

Alabama Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics The Arizona Partnership for Immunization
Arizona Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics Arkansas Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics California Chapter 1, American Academy of Pediatrics California Chapter 3, American Academy of Pediatrics
California Orange County Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics
Colorado Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics Connecticut Public Health Association Connecticut Society for Public Health Education Cook County Department of Public Health (Illinois) Delaware Academy of Medicine and Public Health Delaware Nurses Association
District of Columbia Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics EverThrive Illinois
Family Voices New Jersey
Florida Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics Georgia Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics Hawaii – American Nurses Association
Henry and Stark County Health Department
Illinois Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics Illinois Migrant Council
Illinois Public Health Association Illinois State Medical Society Immunization Coalition of Delaware Immunize Oregon
Indiana Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics Iowa Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics Iowa Immunizes
Iowa Public Health Association Kansas Public Health Association
Kentucky Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics Lee County Health Department (Illinois)
Looms For Lupus
Maine Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics Maine Families for Vaccines
Maine Public Health Association
Maryland Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics Massachusetts Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics Massachusetts Families for Vaccines
Massachusetts Public Health Alliance Michigan Public Health Association
Minnesota Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics Minnesota Public Health Association
Mississippi Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics Montana Families for Vaccines
Montana Nurses Association Montana Public Health Association Mount Sinai South Nassau
Nebraska Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics New Hampshire Pediatric Society
New Mexico Pediatric Society
New York Chapter 2, American Academy of Pediatrics New York Chapter 3, American Academy of Pediatrics New York State Public Health Association
North Carolina Association of Local Health Directors North Carolina Pediatric Society
North Carolina Public Health Association
Oregon Families for Vaccines Oregon Pediatric Society
Pediatric Nurse Practitioner House Calls (New York) Pennsylvania Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics Public Health Association of Nebraska
Routt County Public Health (Colorado) Saul's Light (Louisiana)
Tennessee Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics Tennessee Families for Vaccines
Tennessee Public Health Association
The Immunization Partnership
Tiny Transitions Therapy Consulting PLLC (Texas) Utah Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics Vermont Public Health Association
Virginia Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics Washington Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics Washington State Nurses Association
Washington State Public Health Association
West Virginia Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics Wisconsin Public Health Association
Woodford County Health Department (Illinois)