1005 - Vaccines 101: The Past, Present, and Future of the Federal Vaccine Schedule
Public Health On Call
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
4.6 • 644 Ratings
🗓️ 3 February 2026
⏱️ 17 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
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Summary
About this episode:
For decades, the recommended immunization schedule has guided physicians through the proper administration of vaccines and empowered individuals to protect themselves against preventable diseases. But recent changes to the schedule and the overhaul of the CDC committee leading vaccine recommendations throws public and personal health into uncharted territory. In this episode: Vaccine expert Walter Orenstein explains the importance of a transparently developed, standardized schedule and shares his concerns about recent changes to the recommendations.
Guests:
Dr. Walter Orenstein is the associate director of the Emory Vaccine Center. He previously held roles with the CDC and served as the director of the United States Immunization Program and Assistant Surgeon General of the United States Public Health Service.
Host:
Dr. Josh Sharfstein is distinguished professor of the practice in Health Policy and Management, a pediatrician, and former secretary of Maryland's Health Department.
Show links and related content:
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CDC Acts on Presidential Memorandum to Update Childhood Immunization Schedule—U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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Who Decides Which Vaccines Americans Should Get and When?—Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
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The history of the United States Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)—Vaccine
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Vaccines 101—Public Health On Call
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Public Health On Call, a podcast from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, |
| 0:05.9 | where we bring evidence, experience, and perspective to make sense of today's leading health challenges. |
| 0:16.3 | If you have questions or ideas for us, please send an email to public health question at jh.h.u. |
| 0:23.8 | That's public health question at jhhu.edu for future podcast episodes. |
| 0:31.1 | Hi listeners, it's Lindsay Smith-Rogers. |
| 0:33.9 | Dr. Walter Orinstein is one of the nation's foremost experts on vaccines. An emeritus professor at |
| 0:39.8 | Emory University and the former director of the Immunization Program at the Centers for Disease |
| 0:44.1 | Control and Prevention, he joins Dr. Josh Sharfstein to talk about the vaccine schedule, its origins, |
| 0:50.3 | how it once was put together, and what he thinks about recent events. Let's listen. Dr. Walter Ornstein, |
| 0:57.0 | it is fantastic to have you here on public health on call. How are you doing today? |
| 1:01.5 | Doing okay, although concerned about potential resurgences of vaccine preventable diseases |
| 1:07.9 | given our current situation. Well, we're going to talk about that in a minute. |
| 1:12.4 | But first, I want our audience to meet you. |
| 1:14.7 | I know of you as someone who's had one of the most distinguished careers |
| 1:18.1 | related to vaccines and vaccination in this country. |
| 1:21.9 | Yes, I really got involved with vaccines. |
| 1:24.7 | When I came to CDC in 1974, went to India and worked on eradicating |
| 1:30.3 | smallpox, trained in infectious diseases, came back to CDC in the immunization program. |
| 1:36.2 | I was there for 26 years total, including 16 that I was director of the U.S. |
| 1:43.1 | Immunization Program and have since continued to work in |
| 1:46.5 | vaccines and vaccine preventable diseases at Emory and at the Gates Foundation. |
| 1:52.9 | Smallpox was quite a disease, totally wiped out by vaccination. Could you just tell me a little |
... |
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