By Vani Sanganeria
Parents and schools are scrambling to understand the latest changes to immunization guidance and claims around vaccine safety by appointed health leaders in the Trump administration.
Here’s what parents need to know:
As measles infections reached a new high on Sept. 24, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. doubled down on false claims about vaccines and pointed to evidence to support new changes to vaccine recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“I think what’s pretty alarming here is that if there was such data [that] existed, the CDC Director and Chief Medical Officer would absolutely be aware of it,” said U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, in response to former CDC Director Susan Monarez, who noted in congressional questioning that she has “not seen that data” and was ousted by Kennedy over vaccine guidance.
MMRV – measles, mumps, rubella and varicella
The CDC’s federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted on Sept. 18 to stop recommending the measles, mumps, rubella and varicella combination vaccine for children under the age of 4. The panel, which Kennedy overhauled to include vaccine skeptics, instead voted to recommend the standalone varicella (chickenpox) vaccine for toddlers through age 3.
Many public health experts have argued that the MMR vaccine is safe and effective, and have debunked claims linking vaccines to autism. The CDC panel’s decision could mean that some children will be denied access to MMR combination vaccines, because their health insurers won’t be required to cover vaccinations since the CDC does not recommend them.
Covid-19
The CDC panel also significantly narrowed its Covid-19 vaccine recommendation to just adults age 65 and older and those at high risk due to certain medical conditions, excluding children and adolescents. This also means that health insurers may soon stop covering the Covid-19 vaccine for families who are not protected by state law.
Children are covered for vaccines in California
In September, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new law that requires all immunizations recommended by the California Department of Public Health to be covered by health insurers. This means that vaccines for all California residents, including children, will be covered in most cases by health plans such as Medi-Cal and private insurance.
California, along with Oregon and Washington state, is part of the West Coast Health Alliance, which breaks from the new federal guidance. It has issued immunization recommendations informed by state and national public health organizations.
California continues to mandate the MMR vaccine for children, based on CDC recommendations as of Jan. 1, 2025:
• One dose of the MMR vaccine at 12 months of age and another at 4-6 years old
• Both doses for children, adolescents and adults without documented MMR doses
Who pays?
The MMRV vaccine, as well as all other required childhood vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio and hepatitis B, are still covered by health insurers. Federal programs like Vaccines for Children still provide free vaccines for children under 19 who are uninsured, underinsured, on Medi-Cal or are American Indian or Alaska Native. Local health departments, community clinics and school-based health centers also provide vaccines regardless of insurance, and they are not allowed to turn away a child due to an inability to pay or missing insurance information.
Vaccination sites can be found t https://myturn.ca.gov/
Covid-19 and flu recommendations
California issued more specific guidance for the 2025-2026 respiratory virus season on Sept. 15.
The panel recommends the fall 2025 Covid-19 vaccine for:
• Infants age 6 to 23 months
• Children and adolescents age 2 to 18 years old with risk factors or who were never vaccinated against Covid-19
• Children and adolescents in close contact with those with risk factors
• Children and adolescents who choose additional protection against the virus
• Adults 18 and older
These recommendations followed reports of some Californians scrambling to get Covid-19 shots. Now, everyone in California should be able to access the Covid-19 vaccine. Southwestern states, including California, reached a 12.5% Covid-19 infection rate as the school year began, the highest in the nation, according to data from the CDC. The spike comes from the highly infectious Stratus variant, the latest mutation of the Covid-19 virus.
The panel recommends the fall 2025 flu vaccine for:
• All children and adolescents 6 months and older
The panel recommends the RSV vaccine for:
• Infants younger than 8 months
• Infants 8-19 months old with risk factors
Families can receive these vaccines at community clinics, school-based health centers and pharmacies such as Walgreens or CVS. Insurance information is not required.
New guidance on vaccine misinformation
The CDC panel is also expected to issue guidance on the hepatitis B vaccine through a now-delayed vote. But public health experts recommend families continue to follow guidance from health experts such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
For families following the CDC panel’s votes — and anti-vaccine claims made by some panel members — the Vaccine Integrity Project, a consortium of public health experts, provides tips to help identify misinformation.