American Academy of Pediatrics departs from CDC with childhood vaccine revisions

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has once again diverged from recent federal vaccine guidance, publishing its own childhood immunization schedule for 2026 that recommends vaccinating against illnesses the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) dropped earlier this month. The AAP on Monday published its 2026 Recommended Child and Adolescent Immunization Schedule, which recommends that children be vaccinated against hepatitis A and B; meningococcal disease; rotavirus; the flu; and RSV. These were all diseases the CDC dropped from its immunization schedule for all children this month. In its announcement, the AAP linked back to the CDC’s current child and adolescent immunization schedule but noted it does not endorse this schedule. When the new schedule was released, the AAP blasted it as “dangerous and unnecessary.” “At a time when parents, pediatricians and the public are looking for clear guidance and accurate information, this ill-considered decision will sow further chaos and confusion and erode confidence in immunizations,” AAP President Andrew Racine said in a statement at the time. The AAP has repeatedly found itself at odds with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the leadership of Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “The updated CDC childhood schedule continues to protect children against serious diseases while aligning U.S. guidance with international norms. Many peer nations achieve high vaccination rates without mandates by relying on trust, education, and strong doctor-patient relationships, and HHS will work with states and clinicians to ensure families have clear, accurate information to make their own informed decisions,” an HHS spokesperson told The Hill when reached for comment. Last year, the AAP boycotted the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) meeting, citing the removal of itself and other liaison organizations from committee work groups. The group, which represents about 67,000 pediatricians, also denounced decisions by Kennedy’s remade ACIP to no longer recommend vaccines like the combined measles, mumps, rubella and varicella vaccine. The AAP, along with other health organizations, is suing the Trump administration over its reduced childhood immunization schedule. “We are confident that we will demonstrate for the court that this administration has acted arbitrarily and capriciously in revisions to the childhood immunization schedule and, furthermore, that the current ACIP will continue this destructive pattern if allowed to continue meeting,” said Richard Hughes IV, attorney for the plaintiffs. The Trump administration in December cancelled $12 million in grants to the AAP, in what the organization argued was a “retaliatory” move for its outspoken opposition to Kennedy’s changes. A federal judge earlier this month ordered the Trump administration to restore these funds. The AAP is also currently suing to have the members of the ACIP replaced and to have the decisions made by this updated panel reversed.