The number of vaccines recommended by the Center of Disease Control (CDC) for children was officially reduced on Jan. 5, 2026. This change came after President Trump ordered the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to conduct a review of the number of vaccines recommended for children.

The review decided that the United States was an “outlier” compared to other developed nations.

The federal government states that the reason for the change is to increase public trust by recommending only the most essential vaccines.

“I think this will cause a lot more risk for children since they’re more susceptible to infection and disease,” said junior Tahiyah Hafez, president and founder of the McLean club MedStart. They definitely will be more at risk of getting sick.”

The CDC claims it is trying to model the vaccination system in America after other countries such as Denmark, which has lower vaccine requirements.

“The recommendations from the CDC are not based on any scientific data,” said Bassam Atiyeh, president of the Northern Virginia Pediatric Associates, a medical group that provides healthcare for children. “The vaccinations that were present before the changes, [which have now been removed], have been in use for more than 30 years. [The vaccines that have been removed] have been proven to be safe, and they have proven to really cut down on a lot of illnesses and hospitalizations.”

Although federal government recommendations influence states vaccine decisions, states themselves are the ones that set vaccination requirements for their schools.

For example, in Virginia, rising kindergarteners are required to be vaccinated against numerous diseases, including measles, mumps, polio, chickenpox, hepatitis A and hepatitis B. Parents can only opt out of vaccinating their child for medical or religious reasons. Only 2.7% of Virginia kindergarteners were excused in the 2024-25 school year.

“There’s a lot of anti-vaxxers out there who don’t believe in medical opinion,” Hafez said. “So, at the end of the day, it’s what [the people] think [that] is going to help [them] the best.”

Government officials, such as the HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy, assert that this decision was made with the family’s best interests in mind.

“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,” Kennedy said in a public statement. “This decision protects children, respects families, and rebuilds trust in public health.”

On the other hand, organizations such the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association maintain that decreasing the number of recommended vaccines could lead to less people getting the vaccine and, therefore, increase the spread of infection.

“All the [vaccine] companies will maybe produce less [vaccines],” Hafez said. “But people are still at risk [of getting sick]. There’s still the same amount of risk, just less protection.”

With these vaccine recommendation changes in place, parents can still choose to vaccinate their children, but some may take the changes as a reason not to vaccinate their children.

With certain vaccine recommendations taken away, parents may choose not to give their children those vaccines. This could lead to a resurgence of diseases, especially in children.

“The vaccines will continue to be available, but unfortunately many parents will now start doubting the value of the vaccinations,” Atiyeh said. “That is going to affect the vaccination rates in children, and we are going to see many of the diseases that we have not seen in decades reemerge.”

Parents in McLean, a more educated community, may continue to vaccinate their children, but the same may not apply to parents in other areas of the country.

“Thank goodness we live in a community where people are educated. They follow the science, they read and they know what they are reading,” Atiyeh said. “So I don’t think we will be affected as much in [McLean], but it’s definitely going to affect other areas of the country.”

For now, the Mclean community remains skeptical of this federal move, and are worried about the potential ramifications.

“Vaccines are just extra protection [against disease],” Hafez said. “So if you’re not having this extra boost, you’re more at risk than before [for catching disease].”