AAP Publishes Vaccine Schedule
Posted on September 02, 2025
AAP Publishes Vaccine Schedule August 19, 2025
Dear colleagues,
Today, the American Academy of Pediatrics published our own evidence-based immunization schedule for infants, children and adolescents. You can find it in RedBook Online, the AAP’s clinical guidebook for infectious diseases prevention and treatment. To ensure it is easily accessible to all, we will also publish the schedule on AAP.org, as well as a parent-friendly version on HealthyChildren.org.
In the past few months, I have heard from many of you how important it is for AAP to issue our own clear guidance on the immunizations that children need to stay healthy, given the confusing and contradictory recommendations coming from the federal government. We agree. This schedule published today continues our long tradition of creating evidence-based immunization recommendations, dating back to the 1930s when the Academy was founded. The AAP is committed to stepping up, in the way we always have, to advocate for children, families and communities.
Today, we also published updated guidance for RSV immunization and COVID-19 immunizations. You can learn more about all of these recommendations, as well as the recent influenza vaccine recommendations, in AAP News:
Our recommendations start with the science. The AAP Committee on Infectious Diseases and other leaders worked hard to produce the recommendations for COVID-19, RSV and influenza in time for the fall respiratory virus season, and the AAP Board of Directors reviewed and unanimously approved them.
Look for resources in the coming weeks on how to operationalize these recommendations in your practice. At the same time, we are working with others to strengthen the vaccine delivery infrastructure, including appropriate payment, quality measurement and more. AAP is in discussions with private payors to ensure the vaccines recommended in the AAP schedule are covered by insurance plans. There is more uncertainty when it comes to the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program, given the recent changes to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and how they will impact VFC coverage. Our aim will always be to make all vaccines accessible to all children, and we will continue to keep you informed of our progress in the days ahead. If you are concerned about something that you are not sure is on our radar, please reach out to us.
We immunize children because we know this is the best way to help their immune systems learn how to recognize and resist dangerous diseases. In fact, many pediatricians offer vaccines at a financial loss to their practices, despite what you may have seen in your social media feeds lately. To rebut these false claims, the AAP has published a Fact Checked document reaffirming that children’s health, not financial incentives, motivates pediatricians to immunize our patients.
These are trying times. We have had to take unprecedented steps in recent days to ensure that we can continue to do our work—caring for children and keeping them healthy—guided by science, free of interference, and accessible to all families. We know this will be challenging, but we are here alongside all of you, and together we will pull every lever we have to make this happen. We’ve also found strength in partnership among other leading medical organizations, including in a joint essay that ran last week in Modern Healthcare on the dangers of sidelining expertise in vaccine policy development.
Vaccines are a cornerstone of pediatric preventive medicine, and millions of children are thriving today because of this medical marvel. I am honored to work with you to make sure that every child, in every community, continues to have access to every recommended vaccine. The work continues.
In gratitude,
Sue Kressly, MD, FAAP
President