Montana

Montana pediatrician group pushes back against CDC vaccine changes

Published

3 months ago

January 9, 2026

Montana pediatrician group pushes back against CDC vaccine changes

This story is excerpted from the MT Lowdown, a weekly newsletter digest containing original reporting and analysis published every Friday.

On Monday, Jan. 5, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced it would downgrade six vaccines on the routine schedule for childhood immunizations. The changes scale back recommendations for hepatitis A and B, influenza, rotavirus, RSV and meningococcal disease.

That decision — shared by top officials at the federal Department of Health and Human Services — took many public health experts by surprise, in part because of how the administration of President Donald Trump departed from the CDC’s typical process for changing childhood vaccine recommendations.

Montana Free Press spoke to Atty Moriarty, a Missoula-based pediatrician and president of the Montana Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, about her perspective on the CDC’s changes. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

MTFP: What happened in this most recent change and how does that differ from the CDC’s normal process for adjusting childhood vaccination schedules?

Moriarty: The way that vaccines have traditionally been recommended in the past is that vaccines were developed, and then they traditionally went through a formal vetting process before going to the [CDC]’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, which did a full review of the safety data, the efficacy data, and then made recommendations based on that. Since November 2025, that committee has completely been changed and is not a panel of experts, but it is a panel of political appointees that don’t have expertise in public health, let alone infectious disease or immunology. So now, this decision was made purely based unilaterally on opinion and not on any new data or evidence-based medicine.

MTFP: Can you walk through some of the administration’s stated reasons for these changes?

Moriarty: To be honest, these changes are so nonsensical that it’s really hard. There’s a lot of concern in the new administration and in the Department of Health and Human Services and the CDC that we are giving too many immunizations. That, again, is not based on any kind of data or science. And there’s a lot of publicity surrounding the number of vaccines as compared to 30 years ago, and questioning why we give so many. The answer to that is fairly simple. It’s because science has evolved enough that we actually can prevent more diseases. Now, some comparisons have been made to other countries, specifically Denmark, that do not give as many vaccines, but also are a completely different public health landscape and population than the United States and have a completely different public health system in general than we do.

MTFP: Where is the American Academy of Pediatrics [AAP] getting its guidance from now, if not ACIP?

Moriarty: We really started to separate with the [CDC’s] vaccine recommendations earlier in 2025. So as soon as they stopped recommending the COVID vaccine, that’s when [AAP] published our vaccine schedule that we have published for the last 45 years, but it’s the first time that it differed from the CDC’s. We continue to advocate for immunizations as a public health measure for families and kids, and are using the previous immunization schedule. And that schedule can be found on the [AAP’s] healthychildren.org website.

MTFP: Do any of the recent vaccine scheduling changes concern you more than others?

Moriarty: I think that any pediatrician will tell you that 20-30 years ago, hospitals were completely full of babies with rotavirus infection. That is an infection that is a gastrointestinal disease and causes severe dehydration in babies. I’m nervous about that coming roaring back because babies die of dehydration. It’s one of the top reasons they’re admitted to the hospital. I’m nervous about their recommendation against the flu vaccine. [The U.S. is] in one of the worst flu outbreaks we’ve ever seen currently right now and have had many children die already this season.

MTFP: Do you think, though, that hearing this changed guidance from the Trump administration will change some families’ minds about what vaccines they’ll elect to get for their children?

Moriarty: Oh, absolutely. We saw that before this recommendation. I mean, social media is such a scary place to get medical information, and [listening to] talking heads on the news is just really not an effective way to find medical information, but we see people getting it all the time. I meet families in the hospital that make decisions for their kids based on TikTok. So I think that one of the effects of this is going to be to sow more distrust in the public health infrastructure that we have in the United States that has kept our country healthy.

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The ugly truth behind ‘restoring Montana values’ • Daily Montanan

Published

30 minutes ago

April 12, 2026

Press Room

Restoring Montana values.

When you hear that term, your ears should perk up. This phrase isn’t folksy nostalgia; it’s shorthand for something else. It’s Republican code. It’s an old trick. Take one of grandpa’s old slogans and use it to mean something else. Usually something vile. Something about 50 or 100 years past its sell-by date.

Republicans like to talk about restoring “Montana values.” It’s like they are promising to bring back nickel candy. They aren’t. It sounds harmless, even virtuous. Let’s be clear: It isn’t.

So, what does “Restoring Montana Values” mean today in Republican speak? It means a never-ending stream of unconstitutional laws intended to deny certain groups of Montana citizens their constitutional rights. But, they won’t say that out loud. These laws are consistently unconstitutional. And, here’s the subterfuge – Republicans blame our nonpartisan judges. Not the legislature. Not the governor. Not the unconstitutional laws. Just the judges.

Republicans continue to adopt laws that violate basic freedoms under our Constitution. There is a pattern. Our courts find these bills to be unconstitutional. So, Republicans claim that the problem is woke, out-of-control, radical, liberal judges. (Whew! It’s hard to fit all that outrage into one sentence.) They blame all of the world’s problems on the judicial branch. What Republicans are doing is making “Montana Values” a campaign slogan for something sinister. It’s an attack on the independence of our judicial branch.

Republicans have a “solution.” Restore “Montana Values” by getting rid of our nonpartisan judges. Make judicial elections red team vs. blue team. Not more justice. Just more bad politics.

To be clear – when the legislature knowingly passes bills that violate the Constitution, and our judges find them unconstitutional – that has nothing to do with politics. That is the role of judges. It’s called judicial review. It dates back to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1803 in Marbury vs. Madison.

Republicans have gone so far as to attack Chief Justice John Marshall (and the unanimous court). They claim that the Supreme Court got it wrong. Courts do not have the power to find legislative actions unconstitutional. They are trying to erase 223 years of legal precedent.

State Sen. Tom McGillvary from Billings is a high priest in the “Blame the Woke Judges Order.” He has lectured on why the Supreme Court got it wrong in Marbury vs. Madison. I am sure that McGillvary prayed about it, but it might have helped if he had gone to law school and actually studied the Constitution. Bold. Or, just dishonest. You get to decide.

Republicans’ attack on judicial review just doesn’t ring true. It’s like proclaiming that the person with the fewest points is the winner of the Scrabble game. You can smell that argument; it isn’t perfume.

Blaming judges for doing their jobs. That is the antithesis of Montana values.

The real issue is why Republicans want to deny people their constitutional rights. Could there be anything more inconsistent with Montana values than that? Our Constitution is the foundation of our law. It is the social contract between the people of our great state. Our Constitution isn’t just the law; it’s how we treat each other; how we value every person; and how we respect the rights of all people. Violating our Constitution is totally inconsistent with Montana Values.

Montana has a libertarian streak. Independence is a good thing. You don’t have to agree with me or even like me for us to get along and be good neighbors. People get to believe what they believe and pretty much do what they want, so long as they don’t hurt someone. But, there is a line. You can’t deny people their Constitutional rights. That is over the line.

If Republicans want to restore Montana values: Easy. All they have to do is honor and follow the Montana Constitution.

In 1972, 100 Montana citizens crafted our Constitution. Delegates sat in alphabetical order, not by party. Pragmatism bent party loyalty to build a consensus. It’s not a Republican constitution or a Democratic constitution. It isn’t woke or fascist. It’s ours. Eighty-nine out of 100 delegates approved. Montana citizens –not Republicans; not Democrats. Montanans.

And then, in June of 1972, Montana citizens voted to approve the new Constitution. It holds our values.

Republicans want to deny some Montana citizens their Constitutional rights.

Well? That’s not Montana values.

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Montana Lottery Powerball, Lotto America results for April 11, 2026

Published

13 hours ago

April 11, 2026

Press Room

The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at April 11, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Powerball numbers from April 11 drawing

06-47-49-53-60, Powerball: 06, Power Play: 2

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Lotto America numbers from April 11 drawing

01-21-26-29-32, Star Ball: 06, ASB: 03

Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from April 11 drawing

05-06-07-30, Bonus: 04

Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Montana Cash numbers from April 11 drawing

18-20-26-37-39

Check Montana Cash payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

When are the Montana Lottery drawings held?

Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
Lucky For Life: 8:38 p.m. MT daily.
Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Big Sky Bonus: 7:30 p.m. MT daily.
Powerball Double Play: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Montana Cash: 8 p.m. MT on Wednesday and Saturday.
Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.

Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Great Falls Tribune editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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