Vaccination Recommendations by the AAP

The American Academy of Pediatrics strongly recommends immunizations as the safest and most cost-effective way of preventing disease, disability, and death. The AAP calls for the on-time, routine immunization of all children and adolescents according to its policy, Recommended Immunization Schedules for Children and Adolescents Aged 18 Years or Younger, United States, 2021.

The AAP Red Book serves as policy of the AAP and is written by the AAP Committee on Infectious Diseases. Chapter 1 of the Red Book focuses on Immunizations. Chapter 3 includes Summaries of Infectious Diseases, including those prevented by routine immunization.

The AAP supports regulations and laws requiring immunizations to attend child care and school, with exemptions for specific immunizations only when medically contraindicated for an individual child. The AAP views nonmedical exemptions to school-required immunizations as inappropriate for individual, public health, and ethical reasons and advocates for their elimination. More is available in the policy statement, Medical Versus Nonmedical Immunization Exemptions for Child Care and School Attendance.

To support routine and on-time vaccination of adolescents, the AAP has issued the clinical report, The Need to Optimize Adolescent Immunization, which reminds pediatricians that every visit is an opportunity to vaccinate.

Other AAP Policies and Clinical Reports include the following:

• COVID-19 Vaccines in Children and Adolescents
• Countering Vaccine Hesitancy
• Immunizing Parents and Other Close Family Contacts in the Pediatric Office Setting