MI Shifts Vaccine Guidance Away From CDC

Michigan health leaders are breaking away from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention when it comes to vaccine advice.

Chief Medical Executive Natasha Bagdasarian urged healthcare providers and families to follow vaccine schedules from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) or the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).

The announcement comes after U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reversed decades of vaccine recommendations and replaced all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices with his own handpicked people.

"As the state’s chief medical executive, it is my duty to protect and promote public health, and I find the vaccine schedule recommendations produced by the AAP and AAFP well-evidenced and based on rigorous review," Bagdasarian said. "This Standing Recommendation will help encourage vaccine accessibility and availability in Michigan."

The recommendation also comes as Michigan hospitals continue to offer hepatitis B vaccines to newborns, despite the CDC dropping that longstanding recommendation earlier this month.

"Routine childhood immunizations, including the hepatitis B birth dose, are supported by decades of real-world data and an exceptional safety record," Bashar Yalldo, president of the Michigan chapter of the Academy of Family Physicians (MAFP), said. "The MAFP encourages parents to follow evidence-based medical guidance and to speak with their family physician about protecting their newborns, families and communities."

Michigan joins a handful of other states, including New York, Pennsylvania, Maine and California that now refer to immunization schedules from the AAP and other national medical organizations.

"Employing these schedules will contribute to the advancement of the health of Michigan’s residents and prevent severe, potentially fatal, negative outcomes," Bagdasarian said. "I encourage health care providers, health care systems and health care payers to limit barriers to vaccine access where possible."