RFK Jr. guts the US childhood vaccine schedule despite its decades-long safety record

Vaccines on the childhood schedule have been tested in controlled trials involving millions of participants and are constantly monitored for safety. GeorgiNutsov/iStock via Getty Images

The Trump administration’s overhauling of the decades-old childhood vaccination schedule, announced by federal health officials on Jan. 5, 2026, has raised alarm among public health experts and pediatricians.

The U.S. childhood immunization schedule, the grid of colored bars pediatricians share with parents, recommends a set of vaccines given from birth through adolescence to prevent a range of serious infections. The basic structure has been in place since 1995, when federal health officials and medical organizations first issued a unified national standard, though new vaccines have been added regularly as science advanced.