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AAP
AAP releases 2026 pediatric immunization schedule, diverging from CDC guidance
January 26, 2026
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has issued its 2026 Recommended Childhood and Adolescent Immunization Schedule, reaffirming routine vaccination from birth through age 18. The guidance is largely unchanged from recent AAP recommendations but diverges from CDC’s schedule, which now recommends fewer routine childhood vaccines. The AAP schedule is endorsed by 12 medical and health organizations, including the AMA, AAFP, ACOG, and IDSA, representing more than one million clinicians.
The schedule continues to recommend protection against the following 18 diseases:
- RSV
- Hepatitis A and B
- Rotavirus
- Influenza
- COVID‑19
- Measles, mumps, rubella
- Diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus
- Polio
- Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) disease
- Varicella
- Meningococcal disease
- Pneumococcal disease
- HPV
AAP leaders emphasize that recommendations are grounded in longstanding safety and immunologic evidence and are intended to guide evidence‑based preventive pediatric care. In a press release, AAP President Andrew Racine, MD, PhD, FAAP said: “Routine childhood immunizations are an important early step in the path to lifelong health. Every step you take alongside your child on that path is because you want them to grow up healthy and as a trusted partner on that journey, your pediatrician welcomes conversations about all your child’s health care, including immunizations.”
Sources:
(2026, January 26). American Academy of Pediatrics. American Academy of Pediatric Issues Recommended Childhood and Adolescent Immunization Schedule for 2026 [News release]. https://www.aap.org/en/news-room/news-releases/aap/2025/american-academy-of-pediatric-issues-recommended-childhood-and-adolescent-immunization-schedule-for-2026/
O'Leary ST; Committee on Infectious Diseases. (2026, January 26). Pediatrics. Recommended Childhood and Adolescent Immunization Schedule: United States, 2026: Policy Statement. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41582321/
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