Washington — The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention on Monday announced updated recommendations for childhood vaccines with some significant changes. The new guidelines recommend fewer shots and are likely to face pushback from many doctors and public health experts. 

Under the new guidelines, the CDC recommends all children be vaccinated against 11 diseases, a decrease from the 17 immunizations previously recommended.

The vaccines recommended under the new guidelines include diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis (whooping cough), Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), Pneumococcal conjugate, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, and human papillomavirus (HPV), as well as varicella (chickenpox). (Some vaccines, such as the MMR shot for measles, mumps and rubella, protect against multiple diseases.)

In a second category under the new guidelines, it's recommended that only children in high-risk categories receive immunizations for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), hepatitis A, hepatitis B, dengue, meningococcal ACWY and meningococcal B. 

Finally, in a third category, for children not in high-risk groups, the decision on whether to receive certain vaccines should be based on "shared clinical decision-making" between physicians and parents, according to the CDC. Those immunizations include COVID-19, influenza, meningococcal disease, hepatitis A, and hepatitis B. 

"It's very complicated to try to figure out the risks and the benefits," CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook said on the "CBS Evening News." "It's so important to have a health care provider with whom you can discuss this openly and empathetically."

He noted, "The American Academy of Pediatrics calls today's recommendations dangerous and said they're going to continue to give their own recommendations." 

The changes follow a controversial December recommendation on when children should receive their first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine. For more than 30 years, the CDC advised that the first dose be given within 24 hours of birth. The CDC's vaccine advisory panel, which has been hand-picked by Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr., voted to recommend delaying the shot until a child is 2 months old for those born to mothers who test negative for the virus. 

Kennedy, a longtime vaccine critic, said in a statement that Monday's announcement "protects children, respects families, and rebuilds trust in public health." 

"After an exhaustive review of the evidence, we are aligning the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule with international consensus while strengthening transparency and informed consent," he said. 

President Trump called the updates "a far more reasonable schedule, where all children will only be recommended to receive vaccinations for 11 of the most serious and dangerous diseases." But parents could still choose to give their children other vaccinations and those will still be covered by insurance, Mr. Trump said. 

The assessment compared the U.S. vaccine schedule to those of 20 other developed nations and found that the U.S. is a "global outlier" in both the number of diseases addressed and total number of recommended doses, according to the Health and Human Services Department. 

The American Academy of Pediatrics has disputed that, saying the longstanding U.S. recommendations were based on "robust evidence" and are "largely similar across developed countries," with some variance due to factors like disease threats, demographics and health care systems.

Dr. Ronald G. Nahass, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, called Monday's announcement a "reckless step." 

"Making these changes amid ongoing outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases shows a disregard for the real confusion families already face," he said in a statement. The biggest measles outbreak in more than 30 years has sickened more than 2,000 people across the U.S. Most of those sickened were not vaccinated, and two children died.

Dr. Michael Osterholm of the Vaccine Integrity Project, based at the University of Minnesota, warned that the change in the CDC's vaccine recommendations will put children at risk.

"Abandoning recommendations for vaccines that prevent influenza, hepatitis and rotavirus, and changing the recommendation for HPV without a public process to weigh the risks and benefits, will lead to more hospitalizations and preventable deaths among American children," Osterholm told The Associated Press.