Health
Federal Childhood Vaccine Schedule Changes Have ‘No Bearing’ on Illinois Recommendations: State Public Health Director
Video: Joining “Chicago Tonight” on Jan. 7, 2026, are Chicago Department of Public Health Medical Director Dr. Brian Borah; Dr. Allison Bartlett, professor and pediatric infectious diseases specialist at University of Chicago Medicine; and Dr. Sameer Vohra, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health. (Produced by Shelby Hawkins)
The decision by U.S. health officials earlier this week to reduce the number of vaccines recommended for all children “has no bearing” on Illinois’ childhood vaccine recommendations, according to Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Sameer Vohra.
“As the federal government unilaterally makes changes without transparent review or evidence to support changes, Illinois will continue to promote the well-being of Illinoisans by issuing recommendations based on the full weight of scientific evidence,” Vohra said in a statement.
The stance is the latest example of Illinois health officials breaking from federal changes to vaccine recommendations under the Trump administration. The federal changes come as U.S. vaccination rates have been slipping, while at the same time, rates of diseases that can be protected against with vaccines, such as measles and whooping cough, are rising.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Monday it is no longer recommending that all children receive vaccines against: RSV, flu, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, meningococcal disease and rotavirus. Instead, the federal government now only recommends protection against these diseases for certain children at high risk.
The federal overhaul of the childhood vaccine schedule follows a directive from Trump to review how peer nations approach vaccine recommendations and to adjust U.S. guidance accordingly. However, many of the countries recommend some of the vaccines the U.S. removed from its list.
“After an exhaustive review of the evidence, we are aligning the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule with international consensus while strengthening transparency and informed consent,” Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a Monday news release. “This decision protects children, respects families, and rebuilds trust in public health.”
Dr. Margaret Scotellaro, division director for general pediatrics at Rush Children’s Hospital, described the CDC changes as based on “misguided” information and vaccine schedule comparisons to other countries, like Denmark, that aren’t easily applicable to the U.S.
Denmark does not routinely vaccinate children against RSV, flu, chickenpox, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, meningococcal disease and rotavirus. The country was among those mentioned specifically in Trump’s directive from December.
“Denmark is a very small country — that’s been compared to the size of Wisconsin — and they also have universal healthcare,” Scotellaro said. “So, managing health on a much smaller scale, when everyone has equal access to health care both on a preventative side but also on the treatment side when they do get sick, makes things very different from the U.S.”
In her practice, Scotellaro has seen more vaccine skepticism from parents, who she said are often hearing conflicting information from federal officials, pediatricians and medical organizations.
Scotellaro said she works to continue to answer questions from parents and ensure they’re using reputable resources as they make decisions regarding vaccinations.
The sweeping vaccine schedule changes at the CDC were condemned by pediatricians and public health experts who say the changes will sow confusion and undermine children’s health.
The Chicago-headquartered American Medical Association and the Illinois-headquartered American Academy of Pediatrics, continue to recommend the vaccines, adding that there was no new science that warranted changes, including no signs that the former U.S. vaccine schedule harmed children.
“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,” said AAP President Dr. Andrew Racine in a Monday statement. “This is no way to make our country healthier.”
The Trump administration said coverage will continue for families that still want the vaccines. Health insurers generally find vaccination a good deal, as shots are cheaper than hospitalizations, and many previously said they’d planned to cover what was recommended last year through 2026.
The CDC still recommends all children receive vaccinations for: measles, mumps and rubella (MMR); diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis or whooping cough (DTaP); polio; chickenpox; hib, or Haemophilus influenzae type B; pneumococcal conjugate vaccine; and human papillomavirus (HPV). However, the latest federal guidance reduces the number of recommended vaccine doses against HPV from two or three shots to just one.
The biggest impact of the changes to the federal childhood vaccine schedule is that more parents are going to choose not to give their children the previously recommended vaccines, along with children not receiving the vaccines at the previously recommended times, according to Scotellaro.
“Children are gonna become sick with these illnesses that we’ve been able to prevent,” Scotellaro said.
Measles Outbreaks Across the US
The U.S. successfully eliminated measles at the start of the millennium. Now, the country’s so-called elimination status is under threat as vaccination rates steadily drop and outbreaks continue to grow.
Last year recorded more than 2,000 confirmed measles cases throughout the U.S., 14 of which were in Illinois.
South Carolina and Arizona are currently facing the largest outbreaks in the country, with 214 cases reported in each state. Utah is reporting 176 cases.
While federal health officials still recommend all children vaccinate against the highly contagious illness, the CDC is investigating whether to “break up” the MMR vaccine — which protects against measles, mumps and rubella — into three separate shots.
“The impact of separating them would be, I think, that fewer individuals would be vaccinated for each of those components,” said Dr. Allison Bartlett, a professor of pediatric infectious disease at the University of Chicago Medicine. “Giving more vaccines at more visits where there’s already limited access is a challenge.”
Children are recommended to get the first dose of the MMR vaccine at 12 months, followed by a booster at age 4.
Shelby Hawkins and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Note: This article was published Jan. 6, 2026, and updated with video Jan. 7, 2026.
Contact Eunice Alpasan: [email protected]
