A change to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine guidance is drawing backlash across the medical community after language that long asserted vaccines do not cause autism was downgraded on the agency’s website .

The CDC page — updated Nov. 19 — now states that the claim “vaccines do not cause autism” is “not an evidence-based claim,” adding that some specific vaccine combinations given in infancy have not been the focus of large epidemiological studies.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told The New York Times he directed the change. Kennedy acknowledged that major studies have found no link between autism and vaccines, but argued that broader vaccine safety questions remain unanswered.

“The whole thing about ‘vaccines have been tested an

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