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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on Monday that it is reducing the number of vaccinations it is recommending for young children, immediately dropping the number of diseases and ailments covered by the vaccine regimen from 17 to 11.

States are technically the authority on what vaccines children should or are required to get when they are born and in the years beyond. But the CDC recommendation is very influential in what vaccines officials end up choosing.

The CDC will continue to recommend a number of shots for children, including those that cover measles, polio, and whooping cough. But vaccines to prevent six diseases or illnesses — including hepatitis A, hepatitis B, meningococcal disease, rotavirus, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) — will no longer be recommended by the CDC to be administered for children, or will only be recommended for high-risk groups and after consultation with health care providers.

The new directive also alters the number of vaccine doses recommended to prevent human papillomavirus (HPV), a virus that can cause cancer later in life, going from two or three doses down to just one instead.

The CDC said the new guidance was meant to be more aligned with what other European nations, such as Denmark, have concluded for their own populations are necessary for childhood vaccines. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a noted anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist who has

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