Executive Order Calls For Fewer Routine Childhood Vaccines, Doctors Push Back

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday that would reduce the number of vaccines routinely given to American children. The order would cut the recommended list from 17 vaccines down to 11. Doctors and health groups around the country quickly spoke out against the change, saying it could put children in danger.

The new order would keep routine shots for diseases like measles, mumps, rubella, polio, and chickenpox. However, vaccines for COVID-19, the flu, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and meningococcal disease would no longer be routinely recommended. Instead, those shots would only be suggested for children who are considered high risk, or after parents and doctors talk it over together and agree.

It is not entirely clear whether the order has the power of law. A federal judge already blocked an earlier version of a similar policy. The judge agreed with medical groups who said the government had skipped over the normal, science-based process for making vaccine decisions. This is the third executive order on vaccines that Trump has signed in less than a year.

Normally, a group of medical experts advises the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, known as the CDC, on which vaccines to recommend. Only individual states have the power to require certain shots for children to attend school or day care. The new order also tells the attorney general to challenge states that limit the reasons parents can use to opt out of vaccines, such as religious or medical exemptions.

President Trump has said he is partly concerned that vaccines may be linked to autism. However, dozens of studies involving millions of people have found no connection between vaccines and autism. He also claimed the combined measles, mumps, and rubella shot — called the MMR vaccine — could be deadly. The order asks that the MMR vaccine be split into three separate shots given at different visits, but there is no evidence the combined shot is dangerous. Decades of research support its safety.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has long questioned vaccine safety, claimed that American children receive between 72 and 94 shots. That number is much higher than what experts say is accurate. According to The New York Times, children may receive as many as 35 shots by age 5, and that count includes optional vaccines like the yearly flu shot.

Many doctors and health organizations are worried about the effects of the order. Dr. Andrew Racine, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, called the order 'not only disheartening but dangerous.' He pointed out that measles cases have already reached a 35-year high in the United States. 'Delaying or skipping shots is risky, especially as measles continues to spread and children go back to school,' he said.

The American College of Physicians warned that the changes could cost families more money. If the MMR vaccine is split into separate shots, parents would need to schedule extra doctor visits, which could mean more copays and more time off work or school. Dr. Jan Carney, the group's president, said the order creates barriers — meaning it makes it harder — for families to get the vaccines their children need.

The order also asks officials to look into replacing aluminum in vaccines. Aluminum has been added to vaccines for decades because it helps the body build a stronger immune response. Studies have shown that the amount used in vaccines is safe, but Kennedy has repeatedly questioned this. The American Academy of Pediatrics has released its own vaccine schedule, urging parents to make sure their children still receive all of the vaccines that were previously recommended.