Vaccine Committee May Make Significant Changes to Childhood Schedule [View all]

Source: New York Times

Vaccine Committee May Make Significant Changes to Childhood Schedule

Comments by President Trump, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and some panelists suggest the committee is likely to delay hepatitis B shots and discuss revising the use of other vaccines.


Trump administration officials have suggested breaking up combination vaccines, including those for measles, mumps and rubella, into separate shots. Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images

By Apoorva Mandavilli
https://www.nytimes.com/by/apoorva-mandavilli
Dec. 2, 2025
Updated 5:52 a.m. ET

Advisers to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appear poised to make consequential changes to the childhood vaccination schedule, delaying a shot that is routinely administered to newborns and discussing big changes to when or how other childhood immunizations are given.

Decisions by the group are not legally binding, but they have profound implications for whether private insurance and government assistance programs are required to cover the vaccines.

Depending on what the committee does, the changes could also further erode Americans’ confidence in immunizations. Although a majority of Americans still say they are confident about vaccines’ effectiveness, multiple surveys show the percentage has dropped sharply over the last few years.

Members of the group, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, were handpicked by Mr. Kennedy, who has long campaigned against many childhood vaccines. They are scheduled to meet on Thursday and Friday.

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Apoorva Mandavilli reports on science and global health for The Times, with a focus on infectious diseases and pandemics and the public health agencies that try to manage them.
https://www.nytimes.com/by/apoorva-mandavilli

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/health/vaccine-committee-hepatitis-b-children-trump-rfk-jr.html