The immunization schedule is specifically for pregnant, postpartum and breastfeeding women.

At least 100 people have died from the flu this season in Illinois, with 77 of those deaths occurring this month alone, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

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 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will recommend fewer vaccines for most American children, health officials said Monday.

Flu activity in suburban Cook County jumped from “low” to “high” during the week ending in Dec. 20, according to health officials. Chicago’s public health department reported “high” levels of emergency department visits and hospitalizations for flu late last week.

Illinois health officials are maintaining their stance that all newborns should receive a hepatitis B vaccination, days after federal vaccine advisors voted to remove a similar recommendation.

For decades, the government has advised that all babies be vaccinated against the liver infection right after birth. The shots are widely considered to be a public health success for preventing thousands of illnesses.

An advisory committee overseen by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s vaccine advisory board will meet Thursday to discuss the medical guidance of the hepatitis B vaccine, which is currently given at birth.

The bill signing comes ahead of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee meeting later this week for an expected vote on potential changes to the childhood vaccination schedule and how hepatitis B shots are administered.

The change is the latest move by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to revisit — and foster uncertainty about — long-held scientific consensus about the safety of vaccines and other pharmaceutical products.

Illinois lawmakers passed two dozen bills during their annual fall veto session that ended Friday, Oct. 31, including a measure that will empower the state’s Department of Public Health to issue vaccine guidelines amid federal uncertainty.

Nearly all the mpox cases in Chicago this year have been among males, and most who have provided their sexual orientation identify as gay or bisexual, according to the Chicago Department of Public Health.

The formation of the group touches off a new chapter in a partisan battle over public health measures that has been heightened by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s advisers declining to recommend COVID-19 vaccinations.

Chicago and suburban Cook County residents will have opportunities Saturday and through the next several months to receive free flu and COVID-19 shots, as local public health departments roll out their immunization outreach efforts.

Before this year, U.S. health officials — following recommendations by infectious disease experts — recommended annual COVID-19 boosters for all Americans ages 6 months and older.

It’s not yet clear when military troops could be deployed into Illinois, but Gov. JB Pritzker expects President Donald Trump to “keep the militarization going” even after the federal government shut down overnight.