(LANSING) - Michigan's top medical official is advising healthcare providers to stick with long-standing childhood vaccination schedules, rather than newer federal recommendations. Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, Michigan's Chief Medical Executive, issued a standing recommendation prioritizing immunization schedules from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians for children and adolescents. State health officials say those schedules differ from recent federal guidance, but are backed by decades of evidence and rigorous scientific review. Bagdasarian says vaccines have played a critical role in preventing and controlling infectious diseases. Michigan is joining more than a dozen other states -- including New York and California -- in adopting the national medical organizations' schedules as a standard of care. The move is intended to maintain vaccine access and consistency statewide.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services' Division of Immunization consulted on the recommendation. Officials stress the guidance does not replace a doctor's judgment for individual patients, and families are encouraged to discuss questions or concerns with their healthcare providers.