Federal health officials revised the U.S. childhood immunization schedule, reducing routine universal recommendations from 17 diseases to 11. The change—announced under HHS direction—moves vaccines for some infections to targeted recommendations for high‑risk groups or to shared clinical decision‑making for clinicians and caregivers. Officials said the goal is alignment with select peer nations; clinician groups and portions of the pharmaceutical sector criticized the rapid change and voiced concerns about public‑health consequences. Reporting noted the decision followed directives from senior political leadership and bypassed the usual ACIP review process, prompting immediate debate in clinical and policy circles.