'Distressing, depressing, infuriating': Docs condemn changes to vaccination recommendations amid worst flu season in years

By Elizabeth PrattFact-checked by Davi ShermanPublished January 9, 2026

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It's beyond distressing—it’s depressing—and when I permit myself, it’s infuriating. But it’s mostly sad, and it’s dangerous because it will increase vaccine hesitancy and skepticism.

—William Schaffner, MD, infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University

Patients are primarily going to look to their physicians for information, so physicians shouldn't be discouraged by national dialogue. It's that strong relationship, that individual one-on-one relationship, that physicians have with patients [and] parents … that helps drive immunization rates.

—Dean Blumberg, MD

As rates of influenza increase across the country due to the new H3N2 subclade K strain, experts are condemning changes made to influenza childhood vaccine recommendations.

There have been at least 11 million flu-related illnesses, 120,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths so far this flu season, with experts saying it’s the most severe season in recent years. ^[]

“You really see a sharp rise in the number of cases that have been occurring, and almost every state has very high elevated activity with influenza. So it appears it's primarily driven by the H3N2 strain—the new one, the subclade K. More than 97% of the influenza isolates are influenza A, and 90% of these are H3N2, the subclade K, so that's the one that really seems to be driving this,” Dean Blumberg, MD, Chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at UC Davis, tells MDLinx.

Experts say the increasing rates of influenza are likely due to a combination of factors. First, a new strain is circulating. Second, vaccination rates are decreasing.

Decreasing vaccination rates are driving a rise in infections

Earlier this week, the HHS released new CDC childhood immunization recommendations that slashed the number of vaccinations recommended for children.

Under the guidelines, the influenza vaccine is not recommended for children. Instead, the influenza vaccine is listed as an immunization “based on shared clinical decision-making.” ^[]

The updated recommendations have drawn criticism from many in public health and medicine.

“It was a profoundly unfortunate decision. After my 40-plus-year association with the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the CDC, I'm now having to say you cannot rely on vaccination recommendations that are coming from the current CDC. Go to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and other professional organizations to get your vaccine recommendations,” William Schaffner, MD, an expert in vaccination and infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University, tells MDLinx.

“Those organizations have all deplored those ‘recommendations’ that have come from the Department of Health and Human Services and have pointed out, as we all know, that they were not based on science. There was no rigorous process that evaluated the issues and the data related to making those recommendations. Those recommendations just came from higher up in the Secretary of Health and Human Services Office,” Dr. Schaffner adds.

It's beyond distressing—it’s depressing—and when I permit myself, it’s infuriating. But it’s mostly sad, and it’s dangerous because it will increase vaccine hesitancy and skepticism.

—William Schaffner, MD

Children account for the highest number of outpatient visits

So far this flu season, those aged 0–4 years and 5–24 years have made up the highest percentage of outpatient visits due to influenza-like illness. The percentage of outpatient visits for these groups has increased sharply in recent weeks. ^[]

Dr. Blumberg argues that physicians play a critical role in encouraging people to get vaccinated.

“Patients are primarily going to look to their physicians for information, so physicians should not be discouraged by national dialogue. It's really that strong relationship, that strong individual one-on-one relationship, that physicians have with patients [and] with parents … that really helps drive immunization rates," Dr. Blumberg says.

“Even people who have already had influenza still may benefit from vaccination, because, remember, the influenza vaccine protects against three strains,” Dr. Blumberg says.

“Even if the vaccine doesn't protect against breakthrough infection and protect against infection overall, there's still excellent data that shows that the current vaccine protects very well against severe disease by reducing hospitalization by over 70% in children and over 30% to 40% in older adults,” he adds.

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