AIM Statement: AIM Expresses Concerns Over CDC Changes in Childhood Immunization Recommendations

AIM is deeply concerned by the announcement on January 5, 2026, by Acting CDC Director Jim O’Neill to stop routinely recommending six immunizations for children, including those that help prevent life-threatening disease and death from respiratory syncytial virus, influenza, bacterial meningitis, hepatitis, and rotavirus gastroenteritis.

For decades, changes to the CDC’s recommended immunization schedule have been developed and approved through a comprehensive, evidence-based framework involving transparent scientific review by an independent advisory committee of experts from pediatrics, immunology, and vaccine science.  “Abandoning this process and unilaterally changing existing recommendations puts American children at risk and will reduce confidence in, and access to, vaccines,” said Claire Hannan, Executive Director of AIM.

Cases of vaccine-preventable diseases in the U.S. are on the rise. In 2025 alone, there were more than two thousand cases of measles, including three deaths. In last year’s flu season, 289 children died from flu, a record for a non-pandemic year, and nearly half of those children had no underlying conditions.

“The science in support of immunizations has not changed. Changing the recommendations, without scientific review, analysis, public comment, and evidence-based decision-making, increases the risk of preventable diseases, hospitalizations, and death. These are outcomes we have been working for decades to prevent,” said Hannan.