Quad Cities Pediatrics Blog

DATE: 01/08/26

Hello QC Peds Family!

I hope everyone had a restful holiday break. We have been getting a lot of questions regarding the recent vaccine changes that have occurred with the CDC schedule and recommendations, and I wanted to do my best to discuss these changes via a blog post. We know these changes are difficult to understand, and there is a ton of misinformation being spread. Therefore, if you have concerns specific to your family, we always encourage addressing those at your child’s next well check with one of our providers here in the office.

What changed?

The CDC’s vaccination guidelines were recently changed, and recommendations for vaccination against six diseases (hepatitis A, hepatitis B, rotavirus, meningococcal disease, influenza, RSV) were changed from routinely recommended to recommended after discussion with your healthcare provider.

The CDC’s rationale for this change was to bring the United States “in line” with other similarly developed nations, and the recommendations laid out match the immunization schedule used in Denmark, a developed country that vaccinates against the fewest diseases amongst developed countries.

This change was highly unusual, as vaccine recommendations in the United States have never changed unless there was evidence of harm, ineffectiveness, or if new data came to light about a specific illness. None of this was the case with these recent changes. There is no new evidence justifying the changes to the vaccine schedule, no new studies showing harm, no signs of ineffectiveness, no scientific review, and no discussions with leading physician organizations, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics. All of those components have been typical for vaccine review in the past and were bypassed this time around.

Why was the CDC’s vaccine schedule laid out the way it was?

The CDC’s vaccine schedule, prior to recent changes, was designed to provide protection to children when they are most vulnerable to the diseases we can vaccinate against. Prior to their use in the general public, all of the vaccines were put through safety and efficacy trials before being recommended for broad use. 

Rotavirus vaccine, for example, is given only to children under 6 months of age because that is when rotavirus is most harmful and can cause the most severe effects. Rotavirus is less harmful as children age, so vaccinating older children against it becomes less of a concern because they can more readily pass the illness on their own due to stronger immune systems and better hydration reserves. Prior to the rotavirus vaccine, an estimated 70,000 children under the age of 1 were hospitalized annually in the United States for rotavirus complications. That rate of hospitalization is similar to the rate of hospitalization from RSV prior to its vaccine. Dozens of children died from rotavirus annually prior to the vaccine. 

The same can be said for many other vaccines. Whooping cough (pertussis) is at its most deadly when it affects our youngest patients, as was seen in Kentucky earlier this year. That is why it is recommended for pregnant mothers to receive a vaccine for whooping cough and then for babies to receive it as soon as they are eligible (two months after birth). Older children still carry the disease burden from whooping cough, but they are less at risk for permanent harm.

In totality, the schedule was laid out the way it was because it looked at the diseases causing the largest burdens in our country, while taking into account the complexities of access to prenatal care and pediatric care, insurance coverage gaps, and provider access limitations. The goal of the schedule is to prevent illnesses that we can easily prevent and/or ones that are incredibly contagious and would cause significant stress on our healthcare system if cases were to skyrocket.

Why Denmark?

The short answer is that Denmark was chosen as the model the CDC wanted to move towards because it has the fewest number of illnesses recommended to vaccinate against in the developed world.

Denmark’s schedule is appropriate for Denmark. Denmark has a population approximately the size of Minnesota (6 million people), has universal health care (including prenatal and pediatric care), and is ethnically very homogenous (approximately 85% white and of Danish descent). Because of those factors, the government health authority has other answers besides vaccination for these illnesses, such as robust maternal prenatal screening (greater than 95% there versus 80% or less in the US) for hepatitis B and robust treatment for adults who have it. 

RSV immunization is something they defer as well because their burden of disease is much less (approximately 1,500 patients annually hospitalized versus 70,000 annually in the United States), and access and treatment for children ill with RSV are much more readily available due to their universal health care system. Here, we are limited for hospital beds and services in many areas. This makes prevention of RSV a much larger priority here than in Denmark, and is why the CDC previously routinely recommended protection against RSV. With RSV immunization, we have seen a massive decrease in the amount of infants becoming severely ill and hospitalized from RSV.

What does this mean for my child at QC Peds?

As of right now, the way we practice medicine is not going to change. We are going to be using the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) schedule for recommended immunizations, which is the same as the CDC’s schedule prior to these recent changes. This is in line with the vast majority of pediatricians in the US, as well as the vast majority of family medicine physicians.

We know that vaccines are safe, effective, and prevent illnesses that have caused real harm in the past and can cause real harm should they be able to proliferate again.

Regarding insurance coverage for vaccines, the major insurers, both public and private, have reiterated their support for vaccination and indicated that vaccines will remain covered under appropriate preventive services. I suspect this is not going to change, given that insurance companies treat healthcare as a matter of dollars and cents (unfortunately), and it will remain much more cost-effective for them to vaccinate children against these illnesses than to cover hospitalizations for these vaccine-preventable illnesses.

Once again, I know this is a lot of information to take in and can be incredibly confusing, especially in the era of social media and algorithms that are designed to play into a parent’s worst fears. Please know that we are here to be a resource for you if you have any questions. We want you all to be informed and have your questions answered by our medical team. We are proud to take care of your children and happy to be your pediatricians. 

Dr. Hartman

Further Reading:

Fact Check from the AAP Discussing Rationale for Vaccine Schedule

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Vaccine Education Center

Immunizations Page on AAP’s HealthyChildren website (information written by pediatricians, for parents)

DATE: 01/01/2026 

Dear Quad Cities Pediatrics Family,

We hope that all of you had a great holiday season and a great New Year! We wanted to take a moment to address the recent changes that have occurred with the practice.

As of December 31, 2025, Dr. Nazir Kayali and Dr. Ezekiel (Zeke) Hartman have become the owners and operators of Quad Cities Pediatrics. While this may seem to be a large shift, we want to reassure you that the practice will continue to operate as it has been, as they are planning for a seamless transition into their ownership. We will continue to provide the same excellent pediatric care that has always been core to the mission of Quad Cities Pediatrics.

We will be adding prenatal tours and classes, so expecting parents can have the chance to get to know us before your child is born. Our goal is to have these sessions scheduled monthly and also by appointment.

Going forward, we will keep you updated on any of the happenings at the practice through our social media and our updated website, including this blog. We will plan to update this blog at least monthly about different topics related to pediatrics; topics such as current illnesses in the area, discussing appropriate preventive care, and any other updates with the practice.

If you have any questions or concerns about the transition, please do not hesitate to reach out to the office. We are excited to take on this journey with you all!

Sincerely,
Quad Cities Pediatrics Leadership