In December 2025, President Donald Trump ordered that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) research childhood immunization recommendations of other countries. The scientific assessment concluded that the U.S. recommended more vaccines than the majority of other countries. Based on these findings, the CDC cut the number of recommended vaccines from 17 to 11. These cuts included vaccines that protect children against severe diseases like hepatitis A & B, influenza, and meningitis. Ultimately, these cuts will bring negative impacts to American well-being and the domestic healthcare system.
The change was motivated largely by the fact that European countries recommend fewer vaccines. However, these countries have vastly different healthcare systems from those in the United States. Unlike in America, where privatized healthcare means that insurance determines the level of care a person receives, almost all European nations provide universal healthcare, which allows for easy distribution and administration of vaccines. In addition, CDC guidelines can impact insurance coverage and access to vaccines, so even if vaccines are available, it is much harder for patients and their families to access them due to rising costs and less coverage from insurance plans. Thus, removing the six vaccines from the recommendation panel means families may have to choose between prevention of disease and poverty due to the resulting high prices.
A major reason why European nations recommend fewer vaccines is also their relatively smaller population. Russia, the most populated European country to provide universal healthcare, has roughly 140 million people. To be able to provide all of these people with the required vaccines, resources must be set aside by the government during budgeting. This means that there will always be a limited amount of money that restricts the distribution of more vaccines. Since the American healthcare system is privatized, the number of vaccines received by a child depends on the requirement per state and how many vaccines one’s insurance covers, both of which are heavily influenced by the CDC recommendations. Thus, the more vaccines recommended generally means there are more vaccines people can get.
Population also plays an important role in the amount of vaccines required to prevent these 6 diseases. Even if European nations have the same rate of disease for a certain illness, these countries have an overall smaller number of individuals infected due to their slimmer population. Since the U.S. has over 342 million people, the same percentage of people falling ill means many more lives are at risk.
The vaccinations cut in CDC guidelines are also an essential part of ensuring the well-being and health of children. Three of the six vaccines removed—the vaccines for hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and rotavirus—have prevented nearly 2 million hospitalizations and more than 90,000 deaths in the past 30 years. When these three vaccines were introduced in the 90s, the number of people reported with the respective diseases declined by 90% or more. The other three vaccines removed from CDC guidelines combat RSV, flu and Covid, and meningococcal diseases, all of which have an incredibly high death toll even with vaccines to prevent them . RSV causes tens of thousands of hospitalizations and hundreds of deaths in the United States each year. This flu season killed nearly 300 children, and Covid killed hundreds. In the U.S., more than 10% with meningococcal diseases die. With new recommendations leaving these vaccines behind and the resulting price increases for these newly non-recommended vaccines, many more children will be put at risk for these diseases.
Because of privatized healthcare and a large population, the United States can’t afford to cut CDC vaccine recommendations. Because of these two factors and the importance of having healthy children, the lowering of vaccine recommendations from 17 to 11 causes more harm than good.
