Outside the BoxThe Trump administration has dropped recommendations for six vaccines and one preventative therapy for all children
Last Updated: Jan. 6, 2026 at 3:42 p.m. ET
First Published: Jan. 6, 2026 at 11:55 a.m. ET
In just a few weeks, the U.S. went from a “quiet” recalibration of a single vaccine recommendation to a wholesale retreat from the basic architecture of childhood immunization. That shift is being sold as a victory for “individual choice.” But in the real U.S. healthcare system, it looks much more like a high-risk social experiment with no safety net.
In early December, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory committee ended the long-standing recommendation that every newborn receive a hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of birth, moving instead to a more selective approach modeled on that of Denmark.