CDC announces new vaccination schedule, drops blanket COVID vaccine recommendation 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday announced a relaxed COVID-19 vaccination position and recommended a standalone chickenpox vaccine for toddlers. 

CDC changed its previous “blanket” COVID-19 vaccination recommendation to an “individual-based decision making” method, which relies on “shared clinical decision-making” between patients and their physicians, nurses or pharmacists.  

“It means that the clinical decision to vaccinate should be based on patient characteristics that unlike age are difficult to incorporate in recommendations, including risk factors for the underlying disease as well as the characteristics of the vaccine itself and the best available evidence of who may benefit from vaccination,” the announcement explains.  

According to the CDC, risk factors include age, asthma, diabetes, pregnancy, heart conditions and obesity, among others. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved marketing guidelines for the COVID-19 vaccine, especially for those at an increased risk of harm from the disease. 

Under Operation Warp Speed, the “COVID-19 primary series vaccination” reached nearly 85% of the U.S. adult population. But only 23% of adults received the most recent seasonal booster, as was recommended by the CDC, according to its National Immunization Survey. 

CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) concluded that the risk-benefit of the vaccine depends primarily on age (whether an individual is over 65) or the evidence of other underlying risk-factors. 

Any payment method, including insurance plans and entitlement programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program, cover immunizations, the announcement also said. Acting Director of the CDC and Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Jim O’Neill approved the vaccination schedule. 

“Informed consent is back,” O’Neill said in a post on X. “CDC’s 2022 blanket recommendation for perpetual COVID-19 boosters deterred health care providers from talking about the risks and benefits of vaccination for the individual patient or parent. That changes now.” 

In addition to the COVID-19 vaccination update, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, along with the CDC, also announced a change regarding the varicella vaccine – more commonly called chickenpox.  

The CDC now recommends giving children up to three-years-old the chickenpox vaccine “as a standalone immunization,” not in combination with measles, mumps and rubella vaccinations.  

The change responds to evidence from the CDC Immunization Safety Office that suggests toddlers (12-23 months old) have “increased risk of febrile seizure” days following the combined measles, mumps, rubella and varicella vaccination. 

“The combination vaccine doubles the risk of febrile seizures without conferring additional protection from varicella compared to standalone vaccination,” the CDC said in its announcement. 

These vaccination changes come two weeks after President Donald Trump and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy announced the risk Tylenol may pose to babies in-utero. In the same announcement, Trump also hinted at the possible harm bundled vaccinations may pose to children. 

“I commend the doctors and public health experts of ACIP for educating Americans about important vaccine safety signals,” O’Neill said. “I also thank President Trump for his leadership in making sure we protect children from unintended side effects during routine immunization.”