The American Academy of Pediatrics on Tuesday released its 2025–26 childhood immunization schedule, calling for all children aged six to 23 months to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. The group said the youngest children face the highest risk of severe disease and should be “prioritized for vaccination unless they have a known allergy to the vaccine or its ingredients.” For children aged two to 18, the academy recommends a single dose only for those at high risk of severe illness, those living in congregate settings, the unvaccinated, or those who share a household with high-risk individuals. The vaccine may still be offered to other healthy children at a parent’s request. “AAP will continue to provide recommendations rooted in science and in the best interests of infants, children and adolescents,” AAP President Dr. Susan J. Kressly said. The guidance breaks sharply from the CDC, which under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stopped recommending COVID-19 shots for healthy children in May and adopted a shared decision-making model with physicians. It is the first significant divergence between the two bodies since they aligned their schedules in 1995. HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon accused the academy of “undermining national immunization policymaking,” while pediatric leaders warned that conflicting advice could confuse parents and clinicians and jeopardize insurance coverage that typically follows CDC recommendations. The academy’s schedule otherwise tracks federal guidance on influenza and RSV vaccines, underscoring that the dispute centers mainly on COVID-19 shots for the nation’s youngest children.