President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday directing major changes to the federal government’s childhood vaccination recommendations, including reducing the number of vaccines routinely recommended and encouraging parents to spread vaccinations over a longer period.
The August 10 order represents one of the most significant changes to federal vaccination policy in decades.
Trump announced the changes alongside Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has pushed for a reassessment of America’s vaccination policies.
CBS News reported that Trump’s order recommends that parents spread out vaccinations for their children. The president also again raised an alleged connection between vaccines and autism, although extensive scientific research has not established vaccines as a cause of autism.
Trump Wants Fewer Recommended Childhood Vaccines
The order directs federal health officials to revise the childhood immunization schedule.
The New York Post reported that the number of routinely recommended childhood vaccines would be reduced from 17 to 11 under the administration’s plan. The order also calls for changes to how some vaccines are administered.
The Washington Times similarly reported that Trump ordered the federal government to overhaul its approach to childhood vaccination and reduce the number of recommended immunizations.
The administration argues that children may be receiving too many vaccines too close together.
Trump has repeatedly said he favors spreading vaccinations out rather than giving children several vaccines during the same period.
The president said parents would still be able to choose the broader vaccination schedule if they wanted it.
That means the executive order does not ban the vaccines being removed from the routine federal recommendation.
Instead, it changes the government’s recommended schedule.
Trump Targets Combined MMR Vaccine
One of the most controversial parts of Trump’s announcement involves the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.
The three vaccines have traditionally been administered together as the MMR vaccine.
Trump called for the vaccines to be separated.
During his announcement, Trump described the combined MMR vaccine as potentially dangerous and argued that giving the vaccines separately would be safer.
However, major medical organizations and public health authorities have long supported the combined MMR vaccine.
The scientific consensus also does not support claims that the MMR vaccine causes autism.
The New York Post reported that Trump acknowledged parents could continue following the existing vaccination schedule if they chose to do so.
Autism Becomes Central Part of Debate
Autism was a major focus of Trump’s remarks.
The president has repeatedly questioned whether childhood vaccination practices could contribute to rising autism diagnoses.
Kennedy has also questioned vaccine safety and the possible role of environmental factors in autism.
However, large-scale research has repeatedly failed to establish vaccines as a cause of autism.
ABC News has previously noted that health experts reject claims that vaccines cause autism.
The issue remains politically powerful because autism diagnoses have increased dramatically over several decades.
Researchers have examined numerous possible explanations, including changes in diagnostic criteria, greater awareness, genetics and environmental factors.
The Trump administration says it wants additional research into those questions.
RFK Jr. Plays Major Role in Vaccine Overhaul
Kennedy has become one of the most influential figures in Trump’s health policy.
His appointment as HHS secretary signaled that the administration intended to reconsider several long-standing federal health policies.
Kennedy has described himself as “pro-safety” rather than anti-vaccine.
However, his previous statements about vaccines have generated significant controversy among doctors, researchers and lawmakers.
The Wall Street Journal reported before the executive order that Trump had been pressuring Kennedy to reduce the number of childhood vaccines recommended by the federal government.
Monday’s executive order puts that effort into action.
Republican Doctor Pushes Back
The policy is not receiving universal support from Republicans.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican and physician, criticized the administration’s approach.
Cassidy has repeatedly defended childhood vaccines as safe and effective and has warned against making major changes without strong scientific evidence.
His opposition demonstrates that the vaccine debate does not fall neatly along traditional party lines.
Some conservatives strongly support giving parents more control over vaccination decisions.
Others worry that reducing vaccination rates could allow diseases that have largely disappeared in the United States to return.
Parents Will Still Have Choices
One important part of Trump’s order is what it does not do.
It does not prohibit parents from vaccinating their children.
It also does not prevent parents from choosing vaccines beyond those included in the revised federal recommendations.
Instead, the administration is changing which vaccines federal health agencies routinely recommend and how those vaccines should be scheduled.
That distinction could become important as states, schools, pediatricians and insurance companies determine how to respond.
States generally control school vaccination requirements, meaning the executive order does not automatically rewrite every state vaccination law.
Major Public Health Debate Is Beginning
Trump’s executive order could reshape the national debate over childhood vaccination.
Supporters are likely to frame the policy as an expansion of parental choice and a challenge to a public health establishment they believe has become too rigid.
Critics are likely to argue that reducing recommended vaccinations could lower immunization rates and increase the risk of outbreaks.
The debate will also put renewed attention on the CDC, HHS and Kennedy.
For decades, federal childhood vaccination recommendations have served as an important guide for doctors, schools and parents.
Trump is now ordering the government to reconsider that system.
The result could be one of the largest changes to American childhood vaccination policy in a generation—and a political and scientific debate that extends far beyond the White House.
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