Former CDC Director Walensky says to stick to vaccine recommendations prior to Trump administration

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Monday it had scaled back its recommendations for child immunizations from 17 vaccines to 11.

The move is another unprecedented change to health policy by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a vaccine skeptic. The Trump administration said the changes will bring the United States closer in line to countries like Denmark.

Former CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, who served under President Biden, tells WBUR’s Morning Edition she’s troubled by the move.

Highlights from this interview have been lightly edited for clarity.

On why she believes the decision to align the childhood vaccine schedule with Denmark’s is a mistake:

"While they aligned with Denmark, they did not necessarily align with countries like the U.K., and other European nations that actually were much closer to the United States than they are to Denmark. Denmark is certainly on the lower end of that spectrum.

"I will say we in the United States are very different from Denmark. Denmark has a population of 6 million, that's about half of the population of Pennsylvania alone.

"And we're not as healthy a country as Denmark. We have higher rates of child obesity, higher rates of diabetes. We obviously have to work to improve those rates, but now is not the time to remove vaccines for high-risk children."

On whether some children will lose access to vaccines:

"Right now, the discussion has been that the insurance companies will continue to pay for vaccines, even the vaccines that have been removed from the routinely recommended list. And they have said that they will continue to fund vaccines for underinsured and uninsured as well.

"However, we have also seen that confidence in these vaccines has been deeply eroded. A study at the end of last year from the Washington Post and KFF demonstrated that one in six parents now have delayed routine vaccinations or vaccinations that had been previously recommended."

On how the new changes will be felt in Massachusetts:

"I am delighted to say we still have relatively high vaccination rates in the commonwealth. I will also say that we've seen those vaccination rates come down just in the last several months because of this confidence issue.

"What I will say is: for any parent who is confused right now, any person who is concerned about what to do with their children, what I think is really important is to recognize that our professional societies, the Infectious Disease Society of America, American Academy of Pediatrics, have really been singing with a unified voice and have said together that we should stick with the vaccine recommendations prior to this administration."