After taking office as Secretary of Health and Human Services in Feb. 2025, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made significant changes regarding how the federal government approaches vaccine recommendations. These shifts have sparked debates among public health experts and changes throughout states.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) oversees agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The CDC recently revised childhood vaccination schedules in the United States in response to a review of the childhood vaccine best practices internationally, conducted by the CDC and the Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Trump’s direction.
The review included vaccine data from 20 nations and found that the US recommends more vaccines for children than other countries, yet does not have higher vaccination rates than those countries.
RFK Jr. said that his goals for the changes to the US vaccination schedule were to help children and families by strengthening transparency and informed consent, increasing public trust and aligning the US with international consensus.
The CDC vaccine schedule is a national guideline, but individual states do not have to follow them when deciding which vaccines school students need to have. Each state has the right to set its own vaccine requirements, which GA students must follow in order to enter school.
The revised CDC vaccine schedule does not change the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine. The MMR vaccine is still included in the core schedule. Pennsylvania also requires the MMR vaccine for school entry. There has been a rise in measles cases in the US due to unvaccinated people, which could help explain RFK Jr.’s goal of increasing public trust.
Germantown Academy biology teacher Mrs. Keston explained that vaccines have played a major role in protecting public health. “Vaccines are one of the most effective tools we have to prevent the spread of infectious diseases,” Mrs. Keston said. “When vaccination rates remain high, communities are much better protected from outbreaks.” She added that vaccines do not just protect the individuals that receive them, but also protect members of the community who are not able to get vaccinated.
Some view changes that reduce the number of recommended vaccines as harmful to public health by exposing children to diseases that vaccines can prevent. Others believe that recommending less vaccines will increase public trust by letting parents obtain more vaccines depending on their own child’s health and risk factors.