Trump Signs Executive Order to Reduce the Number of Childhood Vaccines

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday aimed at changing the federal government’s approach to childhood vaccines in the United States, with changes that could reshape the recommended immunization schedule for millions of children.

According to a draft of the document obtained by CNN, the measure proposes reducing the overall number of vaccines recommended during the first years of life and dividing the national childhood vaccination schedule into three categories.

Trump seeks to change the childhood vaccine schedule

“We are reducing them,” Trump said from the Oval Office. “It’s not just about giving fewer vaccines, but about giving them over several visits to the doctor.”

According to the published information, the new approach would continue to generally recommend vaccines for all children against diseases including measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, Hib infection, pneumococcal disease, HPV, and chickenpox.

Other products and vaccines would be recommended only for certain populations considered at high risk.

These include monoclonal antibodies against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and vaccines against hepatitis A, hepatitis B, meningococcal B disease, meningococcal ACWY disease, and dengue.

What will happen to other vaccines?

According to the cited draft, some vaccines would be subject to a shared decision-making process between parents and the child’s doctor.

This category would include vaccines against rotavirus, meningococcal disease, influenza, and COVID-19.

The order also recommends administering the components of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine separately, a proposal that contradicts the scientific consensus cited in the report.

Pressure to investigate vaccines and autism

Trump has also pressured Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to advance changes to the vaccination schedule and further investigate a possible connection between vaccines and autism.

However, numerous scientific studies have found no evidence that vaccines cause autism.

Changes already face legal challenges

The measure comes after changes previously announced by the Department of Health and Human Services to reduce the vaccines recommended in the childhood immunization schedule.

Those changes were challenged in court by medical groups and several states, and parts of the policy have faced setbacks in the courts.

The new order once again puts Trump childhood vaccine policy at the center of the national debate, just months before the midterm elections.

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