Atlanta doctors voice concern over CDC child vaccine schedule update

Doctors voice concern over new CDC vaccine schedule

Many doctors have criticized the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recent decision to reduce recommended childhood vaccines, cutting protection against six diseases, following an advisory panel's vote to end routine hepatitis-B immunization for newborns.

ATLANTA - Many doctors have criticized the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recent decision to reduce recommended childhood vaccines, cutting protection against six diseases, following an advisory panel's vote to end routine hepatitis-B immunization for newborns.

What we know:

The CDC on Monday reduced the number of vaccines it recommends for children from 17 to 11. The agency now recommends every child get immunized for measles, whooping cough, polio, tetanus, chickenpox and HPV. It no longer broadly recommends vaccinations against flu, rotavirus, some forms of meningitis, RSV, Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B.

Local perspective:

"This seems like a very unwise decision," said Dr. Robin Dretler, an infectious disease specialist at Emory-Decatur Hospital and a board member of the Infectious Disease Society of America. Dretler says the new recommendations are dangerous. "Taking the risk of getting Hepatitis B is nonsense. If you get Hepatitis B, you have it for life."

President Donald Trump posted on social media: "…all children will only be recommended to receive vaccinations for 11 of the most serious and dangerous diseases. Parents can still choose to give their children all of the vaccinations, if they wish, and they will still be covered by insurance."

Trump in December asked the Department of Health and Human Services to review other nations’ approaches to vaccine recommendations. The new vaccine schedule resembles that of Denmark, a nation of nearly 6 million people, with a population about 58 times smaller than the U.S.

When asked if the new recommendations make sense for a nation the size of 350 million, Dretler responded, "It does not. It opens the door for the risk of people not getting vaccinated."

HHS says the changes will help restore public trust after controversies from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Cecil Bennett, medical director of Newnan Family Medicine Associates, says the new recommendations are based more on politics and less on science. "I’ve seen zero science to validate a decrease in the vaccination schedule, zero," Bennett said. "I’ve seen significant science that validates every single vaccine that they’ve taken off the schedule."

Doctors say the overhaul will put children at risk.

"We are doing things that can bring harm to our children that’s totally unnecessary," Bennett said. "We’re seeing outbreaks of measles for no reason. We’re going to see more and more children have significant complications from flu for no reason. Children have chickenpox and complications for no reason."

"There will be more sick children and adults and there will be children who will die who didn’t need to die," Dretler said. "The benefit of vaccination, of course, is immediately for the child and the family, but it’s also for the whole society."

FOX 5 reached out to HHS and is awaiting a response.

What you can do:

Most medical experts agree vaccines are based on good science and can save lives. They urge you to talk with your doctor to make an informed decision on getting your child vaccinated.