PORTLAND, OR – Oregon and other western states will follow vaccine recommendations from a leading medical group instead of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after the federal health agency on Monday changed longstanding pediatric vaccination recommendations.
The CDC cut back on recommendations for all children to receive vaccines such as hepatitis A, hepatitis B, rotavirus, meningococcal disease, influenza and COVID-19 — recommending the vaccines only for high-risk children. Jim O’Neill, acting director of the CDC, signed a memorandum accepting the changes.
Prior to 2025, the American Academy of Pediatrics endorsed CDC recommendations. That has since changed, and the academy has its own list of recommended child vaccines. For example, it recommends children receive vaccinations for hepatitis B upon birth to prevent an infected mother from passing on the virus to their child, followed by a second dose at two months old and a third dose between six and 18 months. It also recommends children between six and 23 months of age receive an initial series of COVID-19 vaccines.
Oregon alongside Washington, California and Hawaii endorse the list as a part of the West Coast Health Alliance. The states launched the alliance in September in response to concerns about the CDC’s credibility under the Trump administration and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic.
Following President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the CDC in January removed several datasets and surveys from its website. The removal of the data appeared to be in response to Trump’s executive orders outlining the administration’s stance on sex and gender, racial equity and diversity equity and inclusion.
Kennedy characterized the move as bringing the U.S. in line with other countries, but Dean Sidelinger, Oregon’s state epidemiologist, said changing vaccine recommendations causes confusion and doesn’t improve child safety.
“The CDC changes to its vaccine recommendations increase the risk of vaccine preventable diseases amongst children,” Sidelinger told reporters over Zoom on Tuesday. “When children get sick, it leads to missed school, missed work for parents and most importantly, increased hospitalizations and tragically in some cases even death.”
No Oregon county has enough vaccination rates among kindergarteners to meet herd immunity, the Washington Post reported. Nearly one in 10 Oregon kindergartners aren’t fully vaccinated because their parents asked for a nonmedical vaccine exemption, setting a state record for the 2024-25 school year.
Despite changes to federal recommendations, Oregonians can still access child and adolescent vaccines and costs won’t increase, Sidelinger said. The changes aren’t expected to impact public or private insurer coverage.
Meg Olson, director of the statewide advocacy group Oregon Families for Vaccines, said rural Oregonians already with limited health care access will be most impacted.
“Parents who have questions will see messages from their medical providers that differ from the federal agency that should be leading public health, creating confusion and delaying use of these life-saving preventative measures,” she said in a statement.
The CDC still recommends all children receive vaccines including mumps, measles, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, Haemophilus influenzae type B, pertussis, polio, pneumococcal disease, human papillomavirus and chickenpox.
This story first appeared on Oregon Capital Chronicle.
