Vaccines are prepared for students during a pop-up immunization clinic at a school in Louisville, Ky., on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mary Conlon, File)2026-01-10T13:17:07Z Dr. Molly OShea has noticed growing skepticism about vaccines at both of her Michigan pediatric offices and says this weeks unprecedented and confusing changes to federal vaccine guidance will only make things worse.One of her offices is in a Democratic area, where more of the parents she sees are opting for alternative schedules that spread out shots. The other is in a Republican area, where some parents have stopped immunizing their children altogether.She and other doctors fear the new recommendations and the terminology around them will stoke vaccine hesitancy even more, pose challenges for pediatricians and parents that make it harder for kids to get shots, and ultimately lead to more illness and death.The biggest change was to stop blanket recommendations for protection against six diseases and recommend those vaccines only for at-risk children or through something called shared clinical decision-making with a health care provider. The phrase, experts say, is confusing and dangerous: It sends a message to a parent that actually theres only a rarefied group of people who really need the vaccine, OShea said. Its creating an environment that puts a sense of uncertainty about the value and necessity or importance of the vaccines in that category. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who helped lead the anti-vaccine movement for years, said in announcing the changes that they better align the U.S. with peer nations while strengthening transparency and informed consent. But doctors say they are sowing doubt the vaccines have been extensively studied and proven to be safe and effective at shielding kids from nasty diseases at a time when childhood vaccination rates are already falling and some of those infectious diseases are spreading.On Friday, the American Academy of Pediatrics and more than 200 medical, public health and patient advocacy groups sent a letter to Congress about the new childhood immunization schedule.We urge you to investigate why the schedule was changed, why credible scientific evidence was ignored, and why the committee charged with advising the HHS Secretary on immunizations did not discuss the schedule changes as a part of their public meeting process, they wrote. Many dont know what shared decision-making meansOShea said she and other pediatricians discuss vaccines with parents at every visit where they are given. But thats not necessarily shared clinical decision-making, which has a particular definition.On its website, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices says: Unlike routine, catch-up, and risk-based recommendations, shared clinical decision-making vaccinations are not recommended for everyone in a particular age group or everyone in an identifiable risk group. Rather, shared clinical decision-making recommendations are individually based and informed by a decision process between the health care provider and the patient or parent/guardian.In this context, health care providers include primary care physicians, specialists, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, registered nurses and pharmacists. A pair of surveys conducted last year by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania suggested that many people dont fully understand the concept, which came up last year when the federal government changed recommendations around COVID-19 vaccinations.Only about 2 in 10 U.S. adults knew that one meaning behind shared decision-making is that taking the vaccine may not be a good idea for everyone but would benefit some. And only about one-third realized pharmacists count as health care providers to talk with during the process, even though they frequently administer vaccines.As of this week, vaccines that protect against hepatitis A, hepatitis B, rotavirus, RSV, flu and meningococcal disease are no longer universally recommended for kids. RSV, hepatitis A, hepatitis B and meningococcal vaccines are recommended for certain high-risk populations; flu, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B and meningococcal vaccines are recommended through shared decision-making as is the COVID-19 vaccine, although that change was made last year. Shortly after the federal announcement Monday, Dr. Steven Abelowitz heard from half a dozen parents. Its causing concern for us, but more importantly, concern for parents with kids, especially young kids, and confusion, said Abelowitz, founder of Ocean Pediatrics in Orange County, California.Though federal recommendations are not mandates states have the authority to require vaccinations for schoolchildren they can affect how easy it is for kids to get shots if doctors choose to follow them.Under the new guidelines, OShea said, parents seeking shots in the shared decision-making category might no longer bring their kids in for a quick, vaccine-only appointment with staff. Theyd sit down with a health care provider and discuss the vaccine. And it could be tougher to have a flu clinic, where parents drive up and kids get shots without seeing a doctor. Staying the course as challenges mountStill, doctors say they wont let the changes stop them from helping children get the vaccines they need. Leading medical groups are sticking with prior vaccine recommendations. Many parents are, too.Megan Landry, whose 4-year-old son Zackary is one of OSheas patients, is among them.Its my responsibility as a parent to protect my childs health and well-being, she said. Vaccines are a really effective and well-studied way to do that.She plans to keep having the same conversations shes always had with OShea before getting vaccines for Zackary.Relying on evidence and trusted medical guidance really helps me to make those decisions, she said. And for me, its not just a personal choice for my own son but a way to contribute to the health of everybody.But for other families, confidence about vaccines is waning as trust in science erodes. OShea lamented that parents are getting the message that they cant trust medical experts.If I take my car to the mechanic, I dont go do my own research ahead of time, she said. I go to a person I trust and I trust them to tell me whats going on.Abelowitz, the California doctor, likened the latest federal move to pouring gasoline on a fire of mistrust that was already burning.Were worried the fires out of control, he said. Already weve seen that with measles and pertussis, there are increased hospitalizations and even increasing deaths. So the way that I look at it and my colleagues look at it were basically regressing decades.___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. LAURA UNGAR Ungar covers medicine and science on the APs Global Health and Science team. She has been a health journalist for more than two decades. twitter mailto