WEEKLY UPDATE: 01/08/26
On Monday, January 5, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is overhauling the childhood vaccine schedule. Effective immediately, the CDC is reducing recommended routine vaccinations for all children from 17 to 11 diseases. Connecticut officials said the state is not changing its current recommendations.
“Here in Connecticut, we will continue to support our medical community and support their recommendations when it comes to protecting public health,” Governor Ned Lamont wrote in a statement. “For generations, these vaccinations have successfully limited the spread of contagious diseases, diminished their impacts, and kept the public safe and healthy. There is no legitimate medical rationale for changing course now.”
The new guidance establishes three distinct immunization categories: (1) recommended for all children, (2) recommended for certain high-risk groups or populations, and (3) based on shared clinical decision-making. The first category includes vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella, polio, pertussis, tetanus, diphtheria, Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib), pneumococcal disease, human papillomavirus (HPV), and varicella (chickenpox). All vaccines, regardless of category, remain covered by insurance with no cost-sharing.
“Parents should be clear on this point: childhood vaccines remain covered by insurance in Connecticut, and nothing about the CDC’s recent announcement changes insurance coverage requirements for childhood vaccinations,” Interim Insurance Commissioner Josh Hershman said in a statement. “Families should continue to obtain vaccinations in consultation with their healthcare providers.”
“Connecticut has serious concerns about the recent changes to the national childhood vaccine schedule. While doctors already work with parents to talk through the benefits and risks of vaccines, clear national guidance has helped families make informed decisions with confidence,” Connecticut Public Health Commissioner Manisha Juthani, MD, wrote in a separate statement. “Scaling back those recommendations risks creating confusion, placing more burden on parents and clinicians, and making preventive care harder to navigate… Connecticut will continue to support evidence-based recommendations designed to protect children and the communities we serve.”
The updates follow a White House directive issued December 5, 2025, for the CDC to examine best practices from other developed nations. The new guidelines are based on Denmark’s. Public health experts, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, warn that aligning U.S. guidance with countries such as Denmark overlooks differences in population size, diversity, and disease exposure.
States, not the federal government, have the authority to require vaccinations for schoolchildren. While CDC requirements often influence those state regulations, some states have begun creating their own alliances to counter the Trump administration’s guidance on vaccines. Connecticut is a member of the Northeast Public Health Collaborative, a voluntary regional coalition of public health agencies and leaders with a shared mission of ensuring trust in public health, responding to public health threats, advancing community health, and strengthening confidence in vaccines and science-based medicine.
CMS Drops States’ Immunization Reporting Requirement for Medicaid, CHIP Beneficiaries
States will no longer be required to report how many children and pregnant women covered by Medicaid are immunized, according to a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) letter. States can still report that information voluntarily.
Those updates and others were made to the 2026 Child and Adult Core Set Health Care Quality Measures for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The agency said it will explore options to facilitate the development of new vaccine measures that capture information on whether parents and families were informed about “vaccine choices, safety, side effects, and alternative vaccine schedules.”
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