Vaccines: Does Europe Do Them Better?

Science Vs

Spotify Studios

Education, Science, Health & Fitness

4.4 • 12.4K Ratings

🗓️ 15 January 2026

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The U.S. just made a big change to its vaccine recommendations, cutting back on the number of shots it will routinely recommend for kids. The government says it wants to "better align" with countries like Denmark. But is following Denmark’s lead a fairy tale come true — or a nightmare in slow motion? Plus, we find out what this new schedule could mean for kids’ vaccines in the U.S. We hear from Professor Jens Lundgren and pediatrician and researcher David Higgins. Find our transcript here: https://bit.ly/ScienceVsVaccineSchedules In this episode, we cover: (00:00) The growing turmoil around vaccines in the U.S. (02:20) Why did the CDC change its vaccine recommendations? (07:29) Vaccines, the Danish way (16:20) Should the U.S. copy Denmark’s vaccine schedule? (20:22) How bad is this? (22:03) RSV: A case study in confusion (28:27) What should parents do now? This episode was produced by Blythe Terrell and Meryl Horn with help from Rose Rimler, Michelle Dang and Ekedi Fausther-Keeys. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Additional research help from Erica Akiko Howard. Our executive producer is Wendy Zukerman. Mix and sound design by Bobby Lord. Music written by Emma Munger, So Wylie, Peter Leonard, Bumi Hidaka and Bobby Lord. Thanks very much to the Unbiased Science network, who connected us with David Higgins. They’ve been doing some amazing work on trying to explain what’s going on with the U.S. and vaccines. Unbiased Science — check out their podcast and their socials. Thanks very much to all the scientists we spoke to and emailed with about these changes. And special thanks to Bernadette Sciandra and Laurence Horn. Science Vs is a Spotify Studios Original. Listen for free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us and tap the bell for episode notifications. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hi, this is Merrill Horan in for Wendy Zuckerman, and you're listening to Science Verses.
0:06.4	This is the show that pits facts against filling up babies with shots.
0:15.5	Today on the show, vaccines. In the U.S., there's been a ton of turmoil around vaccines. The Department of Health and
0:23.2	Human Services is being led by a longtime vaccine skeptic, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He's been accused of
0:30.1	firing the head of the CDC for not rubber stamping his vaccine policy. He's also added a ton of
0:36.2	vaccines to this big vaccine advisory committee,
0:39.6	and President Trump has chimed in here saying that we've been giving kids way too many shots.
0:45.4	They pump so much stuff into those beautiful little babies. It's a disgrace.
0:50.7	And last week, the CDC announced a big change, saying they've got new vaccine recommendations
0:55.8	for kids.
0:56.9	New guidance from the CDC reducing the number of vaccines recommended for children.
1:01.9	They have scaled back the number of vaccines, now only recommending 11 vaccines.
1:09.0	The CDC is now saying that some shots that were given to kids routinely, instead should be
1:15.2	given on a case-by-case basis, like to quote high-risk groups.
1:19.8	And to back up these new recommendations, the government has pointed to what some other
1:24.2	countries are doing.
1:25.5	They say that when you look at the U.S. versus similar countries, some of them don't give
1:30.2	kids nearly as many shots.
1:32.2	And there's one country in particular that's gotten pointed to a ton.
1:35.5	Denmark.
1:36.2	Denmark.
1:36.6	I hear Denmark a lot.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Spotify Studios, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Spotify Studios and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.