991 - HHS Changes Its Pediatric Vaccine Recommendations—Part 1, The Announcement
Public Health On Call
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
4.6 • 644 Ratings
🗓️ 6 January 2026
⏱️ 17 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
About this episode:
HHS leadership started 2026 with an unexpected announcement changing federal childhood vaccine recommendations. In this episode: Dr. Josh Sharfstein joins Lindsay Smith Rogers to talk about the announcement's immediate impact, the rationale behind it, and how it will reshape vaccination in the U.S.
Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.
Guests:
Dr. Josh Sharfstein is distinguished professor of the practice in Health Policy and Management, a pediatrician, and former secretary of Maryland's Health Department.
Host:
Lindsay Smith Rogers, MA, is the producer of the Public Health On Call podcast, an editor for Expert Insights, and the director of content strategy for the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Show links and related content:
- HHS Changes Its Pediatric Vaccine Recommendations: What's Different, What Remains, and What It Means for American Health—Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
-
CDC Acts on Presidential Memorandum to Update Childhood Immunization Schedule—U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
-
Kennedy Scales Back the Number of Vaccines Recommended for Children—New York Times
-
AAP Opposes Federal Health Officials' Unprecedented Move to Remove Universal Childhood Immunization Recommendations—American Academy of Pediatrics
-
Vaccines 101: The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program—Public Health On Call (February 2025)
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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 jh.u.edu for future podcast episodes. |
| 0:30.6 | Hey listeners, this is Lindsay Smith-Rogers, producer of Public Health On Call. |
| 0:34.6 | Today, the HHS announcement that it's changing its recommendations |
| 0:38.4 | for childhood immunization. Dr. Josh Sharfstein, a pediatrician and former public health official, |
| 0:43.6 | joins me to talk about what the announcement means, how it came about, and what comes next. |
| 0:48.5 | In part two of this series, which we're also releasing today, we'll dive into some of the diseases |
| 0:53.2 | prevented by these vaccines. |
| 0:55.3 | Let's listen. |
| 0:56.6 | Dr. Josh Sharstein, thanks for joining us today on Public Health On Call. |
| 0:59.9 | How are you doing? It's good to see you. |
| 1:01.3 | Lindsay, I'm doing okay. |
| 1:03.0 | So in what capacity are you joining us today? |
| 1:06.0 | Well, not as a podcast host today. |
| 1:08.4 | Today, I am a pediatrician. |
| 1:10.0 | I'm a former health commissioner for the |
| 1:12.1 | city of Baltimore where I was responsible for the vaccination of children in the city and a former |
| 1:18.6 | health secretary of Maryland where I oversaw the state vaccine program and a former official at the |
| 1:23.5 | Food and Drug Administration where I worked on the review and approval of vaccines in this country. |
| 1:31.3 | And today we're talking about the HHS announcement that came out about pediatric vaccines. |
... |
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