Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services, said at the Senate meeting on Thursday that children receive up to 92 vaccines in early childhood “to fully match motherhood and 18 years”.
But doctors say ABC News that the number is not accurate. Except for the annual influenza and Covidid-19 shots, children usually receive about 30 doses of vaccines- Many combined injections-iki 18-year-old
Combined vaccines are single shots, which include two or more vaccines, which may otherwise be administered separately: MMR (measles, mumps and rubles) vaccine is a common example. This reduces the number of shots that children receive, while protecting them from the same number of infectious diseases.
In addition, the vaccines presented today contain much less antigens – which are substances that cause the immune response to the body than the vaccines did decades ago. Studies have shown that these vaccines are safe and effective, and do not close the immune system as Kennedy has previously been offered.
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How many vaccines are recommended?
At the Senate meeting, Kennedy said: “When I was a child, I got three vaccines. I was fully aligned. Today’s kids have to get 69 to 92 vaccines to be fully matched.”
The number of potential immunization increased has increased since the 1940s. At the end of the 19th century, the first vaccines were recommended based on changing science and production capacity. For example, children can now receive chicken pox vaccine, which became available in 1990.
When Kennedy had a small child in the 1960s, there were three vaccines, recommended to protect against smallpox, polyovirus and a combination shot covering diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus vaccines.
Ronaldo Scheme/AFP via Getty Images – Photo: Medical staff member administers the dose of measles vaccine in the health center in Lubbok, Texas, 2025. February 27th.
Currently, younger children who are more vulnerable to infectious diseases receive dozens of shots in the early years of their lives, but doctors told ABC News that Kennedy shares the numbers is excessive and misleading criticism of children’s vaccines.
Even now, there are no vaccines for most hundred known infectious diseases. Shots that are available, prevents diseases that have a major impact on public health, cause serious illness or can be fatal or disabled.
For children and adolescents who follow the centers of disease control and prevention (CDC), the recommended immunization schedule is obtained about 30 injections except the annual Covid-19 and influenza shots before they rotate for 18 years. Because several normal vaccines are combined and performed in the same injection, the number of shots may vary.
“I calculate 33 doses from birth to 18 years according to immunization schedule. Most of them can be given a combined vaccine, especially in early age,” said American pediatric professor dr. Pia Pannaraj, Professor of Pediatrics and Member of the American Pediatric Academy (AAP) Committee.
If this still sounds like a lot, consider the number of microbes children face every day, says pediatricians.
“Children face 2000-6000 antigens every day, just playing on the playground or going to school. This is much more than what they get in the vaccines,” Pannaraj said.
“If you are counting RSV, there are 18 or 19 infections that children are advised to vaccinate,” Dr. Robert W. Frenck, junior, pediatrician and chairman of the AAP section “Infectious Disease”.
Frenck noted that many vaccines are a combined vaccine. These include diphtheria, tetana and pertussis (dtap) vaccine, hepatitis B vaccine, hemophilus influenzae type B (HIB) vaccine, vaccine and measles, mumps and Ruba (MMR) vaccine.
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“Many vaccines require two to three doses, about four to five to finish the series. But it’s not 60 to 90 vaccines,” Frenck said.
Studies have also shown that vaccines do not fill or weaken the immune system and do not make children more sensitive to other infections. This includes 2005. Danish research and 2018 A study of about 1,000 American children.
Researchers of the latter investigators concluded: “Despite the different methods of the population, the study period, the study planning and the exposition of the exposition, this current study of the inserted case and control reached the same conclusion as” Denmark’s previous study.
How many vaccines are obliged?
Although the CDC provides recommendations for regular vaccinations, many are not obliged to attend school for American children. The powers of vaccination schools are determined by each state, but the most common shots needed by children are MMR, Varicella, DTAP, Polio and Meningitis Vaccines, CDC said.
In addition, all states allow exceptions to the medical vaccine, while most states have exceptions to politics for people with strong religious contradictions to balance the need for public health with the need for freedom of choice. Some states allow exceptions based on personal beliefs alone.
How effective are vaccines?
Doctors say the safety, effectiveness and safety of vaccines have been proven by decades of strict research.
Based on 2024 A study led by the World Health Organization has saved about 154 million lives over the last 50 years. Of those life, about 101 million were babies.
However, many vaccines are a problem worldwide, and some have become a growing problem in the US, such as measles, confirmed by the recent outbreak of Texas, which has been the largest in the US for decades.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images – Photo: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
So far this year, measles have been discovered in almost every state with more than 1,400 approved cases, which is the highest number of national cases in 33 years, CDC reports. 2025 The US has seen 35 measles outbreaks, most cases associated with an outbreak rather than isolated from international travel. By comparison, last year there were 16 outbreaks in the US with about 70% of the outbreak compared to nearly 90% this year, CDC data shows.
2000 The US has been announced that measles have been removed, but many public health experts and scientists are worried that the current decrease in normal immunization may allow the virus to become endemic, which means continuously.
One recent study used a model that predicted measles could once again become endemic US with forecasted 851,300 cases in the next 25 years. If the vaccination percentages were only reduced by 10%, according to the model, the US could see $ 11.1 million.
“I know that there is a lot of misinformation and mistrust, but one thing that should not be a fire is a vaccination and the success of the public health history that has been vaccinated in the country,” Dr. Tara Narula, ABC News Chief Medical Correspondent.
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“We know it saved millions of lives. We know it prevents disability from illness,” Narula continued. “Poliomyelitis can cause paralysis. Pure can cause inflammation of the brain, so if you get sick, it can cause complications. We have vaccines against cancer, HPV and hepatitis. We need vaccinations to protect the vulnerable effects, ILL, immunity, children.
Based on 2024 CDC report, estimated that conventional vaccines will prevent more than 500 million cases of illness, 32 million hospitalizations and more than a million deaths among children born in 1994-2023, resulting in a $ 2.7 trillion directly saved $ 540 billion.
Reflecting his clinical experience during the Covid-19 pandemic, Narula said: “Let’s not forget the loss of the toll that may occur, the loss and suffering when we released our guard.”
Jade A. Cobern, MD, MPH, is a practicing physician, Board certified in pediatric and general preventive medicine, and is ABC News Medicine Medical Forest.