CDC drops universal COVID vaccine recommendations, suggests separate MMRV shots
Detail of vials and syringe containing a COVID-19 vaccination by Pfizer at Kaiser Permanente Venice Medical Office Building in Culver City Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its immunization schedule on Monday, dropping the universal COVID-19 vaccine recommendation and recommending that toddlers receive the chickenpox shot separately from the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) shot.
Acting Director and Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Jim O’Neill signed off on the recommendations, which were made by the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) last month.
“Informed consent is back,” O’Neill said in a statement. “CDC’s 2022 blanket recommendation for perpetual COVID-19 boosters deterred health care providers from talking about the risks and benefits of vaccination for the individual patient or parent. That changes today.”
Last month, the ACIP voted to abandon its previous universal recommendation for annual COVID-19 vaccine shots for anyone aged 6 months and older, instead suggesting that Americans can get the vaccine “based on individual-based decision-making,” or a personal choice.
The panel also voted to no longer recommended children around 12 months old receive the first dose of the combined measles, mumps, rubella and varicella (MMRV) vaccine.
Instead, the committee recommended that children receive two separate shots, one for the combined MMR shot and a second shot for chickenpox. The MMRV shot will be recommended as an option for a child’s second dose, typically given at around 4 to 6 years old.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — The global rise of ultra-processed foods in diets worldwide poses a major public health threat, according to experts who published a series of papers in medical journal The Lancet.
The authors cite studies that show ultra-processed diets are linked to chronic health conditions like increased risk of becoming overweight and obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, chronic kidney disease and overall higher death rates.
Common examples of ultra-processed foods include sugar-sweetened beverages, packaged snacks, instant soups, breakfast cereals, energy bars, mass-produced packaged breads, ready-to-eat meals, ice cream and pizza.
ABC News’ medical correspondent Dr. Darien Sutton investigated the state of America’s food supply including the consumption of ultra-processed foods and the potential risks to Americans’ health in a new “ABC News Live Prime” special “Gut Check: The Foods We Eat.”
Watch the segment on ABC News Live Prime on Wednesday, Nov. 19, at 8:30 p.m. ET. Available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu.
Sutton participated in an experiment at a high-tech laboratory at Virginia Tech where researchers monitored his blood work before and after eating ultra-processed foods. He also visited an American grocery store, comparing the ingredient lists of common food products with similar ones overseas in a French grocery store.
The special also takes viewers to the world’s largest food and science exposition in Chicago, where ingredient makers pitch food companies on their latest innovations. It’s a notable time for the industry, as the Trump administration continues to push food companies to remove additives, like synthetic dyes, from their products.
The warning around the dangers of ultra-processed foods comes as the Make America Health Again (MAHA) movement, popularized by health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., grows nationwide.
About four in 10 parents consider themselves supporters of the MAHA movement, with support higher among Republicans and white parents, a Washington Post-KFF poll finds.
An overwhelming number of parents, regardless of their support of the MAHA movement, supported increased government regulations on dyes and chemical additives, highly processed foods and added sugars, the poll found.
The authors of The Lancet paper, which was published on Tuesday, note that improving diets requires more than just a change in behavior.
Instead, they are calling for world policy reform with actions targeting the production, marketing and consumption of ultra-processed foods, as well as improving access to health food is needed, they note.
Americans consume over half of their daily calories from ultra-processed foods, on average, according to a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Healthier eating should emphasize fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy and protein, the CDC says. Most Americans need to increase their intake of dietary fiber, calcium, vitamin D, and potassium, the agency notes.
Stock photo of a sick child blowing their nose. Vera Livchak/STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Concerns about the flu spreading in the U.S. are growing as the U.K. continues to see a spike in cases among children and young adults.
The increased number of cases in the U.K., could be a predictor for the flu season in the U.S., according to ABC News chief medical correspondent Dr. Tara Narula.
“We know that England or other places can be a marker for what is going to happen here, because their flu season happens a few weeks earlier than ours,” Narula said on “Good Morning America” Monday, adding, “We have low numbers of cases so far but they are increasing.”
Some hospitals are starting to implement flu season visitor restrictions, including the Detroit Medical Center and Children’s Hospital of Michigan, which are allowing, as of Monday, up to two visitors per patient and only those 13 years of age and older are permitted on inpatient hospital floors or in observation units.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, flu activity in the U.S. is up at least 7% in the last week, and so far, there have been nearly 2 million illnesses, 19,000 hospitalizations, and 730 deaths from the flu.
Last year, the U.S. saw an extremely severe flu season, with 560,000 hospitalizations and approximately 38,000 deaths from the flu, the CDC reported in September.
Meanwhile, in the U.K., where flu season started earlier than usual this year and has yet to peak, doctors are seeing increasing flu activity that’s currently at “medium” level with hospitalizations for the flu around 7.79 per 100,000, according to UK Health Security Agency data.
Some hospitals, such as the Sherwood Forest Hospitals in Nottinghamshire, have also reintroduced face mask policies in some hospital areas in light of the uptick in flu cases.
What flu variant is circulating?
The predominant flu strain that is currently circulating the most in the U.S. is the subclade K variant.
“The strain that is circulating most … subclade K, which is a variant of H3N2, seems to have a little bit more severe symptoms and maybe more severely affects the elderly and children,” Narula said Monday.
What are the symptoms of the flu?
Flu symptoms can vary from mild to severe intensity, and according to the CDC, they can come on suddenly.
Symptoms can include as fever, chills, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body or muscle aches, headaches, fatigue, and vomiting or diarrhea, two symptoms which tend to be more common in children rather than adults.
People who are at more at risk of developing complications from the flu, according to the CDC, include older adults over 65, children younger than 2, and people with underlying conditions such as asthma and chronic lung disease or heart disease. Complications from the flu may vary, but they may include pneumonia, sinusitis, ear infections, and kidney and respiratory failure.
How to protect against the flu
Although the subclade K flu variant is not a perfect match for this year’s flu vaccine, doctors and the CDC still recommend everyone over the age of 6 months to receive one as a protective measure.
“When they look at studies abroad in England, they have found that the vaccine lowers the risk of hospitalizations for children by about 70% to 75%, which is really good, and adults by about 30% to 40%,” Narula said.
“Everyone thinks [the flu is] not that serious, it’s just a cold, but no, it can really cause complications and death,” Narula added.
Emergency physician Dr. Stephanie Widmer also recommended practicing regular hygienic habits to stay healthy.
“On top of getting the vaccine, washing your hands often, covering your coughs and sneezes, avoid[ing] touching your face and staying home if you’re feeling sick are all things [to do],” Widmer said on “ABC News Live.”
The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is seen during a meeting on September 19, 2025 in Chamblee, Georgia. Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee on Friday indefinitely postponed its planned vote on whether to stop recommending the hepatitis B vaccine for newborns.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, called ACIP, is expected to vote on the COVID-19 vaccine is still expected later Friday. It’s not clear exactly what the advisors will vote on, but the discussion may include the FDA’s recent narrowing of COVID-19 vaccine approvals to a smaller group of Americans — those over 65 or with underlying medical conditions.
A “yes” vote on the hepatitis B vaccine would have recommended that the first dose be delayed from birth and given at one month of life for babies born to moms who test negative in pregnancy.
Robert Malone, a panel member and vaccine critic, proposed tabling the vote out of concern that there had not been enough discussion about the safety of the hepatitis B vaccines.
Cody Meissner, a fellow panel member, argued that trying to “prove the absence of harm” is “simply not a practical objective.”
Presentations on Thursday by the CDC included data about the chances of side effects from the vaccine. For hepatitis B, the advisors are considering removing a universal recommendation for a shot in the hours after a baby is born, and instead only giving the shot if the mother tests positive for the infection during her pregnancy.
The birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine for all babies ensures that all have the opportunity to get protected from a highly contagious virus that can cause lifelong chronic disease. A CDC recommendation isn’t a mandate but can eliminate barriers — like cost — for families so they don’t need to factor that into their choice for a shot or not.
Pediatrician medical groups argue delaying this birth dose until one month of life would leave the opportunity for babies to be missed if they are born to a mother infected with the virus or from a close contact soon after birth. It also may be difficult to guess who is at risk and should be tested — half of people living with Hepatitis B don’t know they are infected, according to the CDC.
When the U.S. had a risk-based approach to vaccination before 1991, it was estimated that 200,000 to 300,000 new hepatitis B infections occurred annually in the U.S. from 1980 to 1991 and over 1 million people were living with chronic hepatitis B infection, according to the CDC.
However, hepatitis B is still a huge problem among adults in the U.S. It’s estimated that up to 2.4 million people in the country are living with chronic hepatitis B, with many being asymptomatic and unaware of their diagnosis, according to the CDC.
