PORTLAND, Ore. — West Coast states are responding to new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that reduces the number of vaccines recommended for children. The West Coast Health Alliance warned the move “risks increasing the likelihood of outbreaks of preventable and sometimes deadly diseases.”
On Monday, the CDC rolled back seven childhood vaccines, reducing the recommended immunization schedule from 18 vaccines to 11. Removed from the list were vaccines for chickenpox, influenza, COVID-19, RSV, hepatitis A, meningitis and rotavirus. Some of those vaccines remain recommended for children considered high risk.
Federal health officials said insurance coverage would continue for all previously recommended childhood vaccines, emphasizing that the change is intended to give parents more flexibility and choice, rather than eliminate access…