The American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists (ACOG) released a vaccine schedule that splits from guidance provided by the CDC.
The ACOG now recommends four vaccines be administered during pregnancy: flu, COVID-19, tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (Tdap). It also encourages pregnant women to take the vaccine against RSV.
“Changing national recommendations coupled with rampant vaccine misinformation are resulting in confusion for both patients and health care professionals,” ACOG president Camille Clare said in a statement. “It is incredibly important for the public to have access to reliable, evidence-based information on maternal immunizations from a trusted source.”
ACOG Chief of Clinical Practice Christopher Zahn, MD, FACOG, said, “Immunizations are an essential part of prepregnancy, prenatal, and postpartum care.”
“ACOG’s maternal immunization schedule is a tool that ob-gyns can use to start a dialogue with their patients about the importance of protecting themselves and their infants from vaccine-preventable diseases that can lead to poor health outcomes,” Zahn noted. “As ob-gyns, we have the power to combat vaccine misinformation on our own platforms, help our patients make educated decisions, and increase confidence in vaccination overall.”
Other health entities have also separated from the CDC. Last year, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued new guidance that recommends that children under the age of two receive the COVID-19 vaccine, despite the Trump administration’s shift away from such recommendations.
According to the AAP’s updated vaccine schedule, children between 6 and 23 months should receive a COVID-19 vaccine, while children between the ages of 2 and 18 “should be offered a single dose of age-appropriate COVID-19 vaccine.” Similarly, the AAP asserted in its policy statement for the COVID-19 vaccine that children 6 months through 18 years of age who are “moderately or severely immunocompromised require 2 or more doses of age-appropriate 2025-2026 COVID-19 vaccine depending on previous vaccination status.”
