Got a Suspicious Mole? We Want to Check It Out
Skin problems are common, and moles are a type millions deal with. In many cases, moles are harmless, but they can indicate one of various types of cancer. Here’s how to figure out which type you have.
Understanding the Changes to the Vaccination Schedule
The path to understanding disease has been a long one, with a lot of trial and error and epidemics to struggle through to make modern medicine possible. Vaccinations represent a vital discovery on that journey that made preventive medicine crucial: working to prevent viruses from doing damage by mild exposure to build immunity.
With this idea introduced into medicine as early as the 15th century, immunization has become a standard for protecting people from deadly diseases. Recent changes to vaccine schedules can affect public health, and to better understand what’s changed, we should review how vaccines work and what these changes may mean for you.
Dr. John Monroe and the dedicated staff at Healthy Life Family Medicine pride themselves on helping the residents of Goodyear, Arizona, with a range of medical conditions, including prevention through immunizations.
Vaccination basics
This type of medical treatment works by giving your body the ability to build an immunity to a disease through controlled exposure. A vaccine contains trace amounts of a dead strain of a virus to train your immune system to fight it when the disease tries to infect you. Since many viruses also tend to mutate into different strains, shots are essential to strengthen immunity.
This is why you get shots during seasons when certain viruses are active (the sole reason flu season got labeled) or why, when new viral strains are discovered, we encourage people to get vaccinated to manage them.
Their positive impact on public health
In simplest terms, the effects of vaccinations are life-saving. The first vaccine was developed to prevent smallpox, and the development of vaccines for many other deadly diseases has saved millions of lives. It has reduced the mortality rate among children under five by 25% between 2010 and 2017 and prevented 25.5 million measles deaths since 2000.
Disease prevention through vaccination also allows immunized individuals to lead longer, more productive, healthier lives and reduces the risk of spreading disease to others.
Changes in the vaccination schedule
As of January 25, 2026, the following pediatric guidelines are not being used for dispensing vaccinations, making significant changes to what routine and what is decided by case:
Current routine vaccines
Diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis (DTaP; Tdap), Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), pneumococcal (PCV), inactivated poliovirus (IPV), measles, mumps, rubella (MMR), and varicella (VAR) are all still given regularly. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is still routinely administered; the dose has been reduced from 2-3 to a single dose.
Shared clinical decision-making (SCDM) vaccines
Rotavirus, influenza, and COVID-19 are no longer considered routine vaccinations; they’re now recommended through clinical decision-making on a case-by-case basis.
High-risk populations
Hepatitis A and B, meningococcal ACWY (MenACWY), meningococcal B (MenB), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV-mAb), and dengue are administered to populations deemed high risk.
These changes can directly affect you or your child’s health, so to find out more about how to make sure to get the vaccinations you need, contact Dr. Monroe and Healthy Life Family Medicine today.
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