Trump Signs Executive Order Directing HHS To Revise Childhood Vaccine Schedule

On Monday, Donald Trump signed an executive order outlining new federal recommendations for the childhood vaccination schedule. The order, titled “Delivering Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations For Americans,” sets out Trump’s and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s vision for how vaccines should be categorized and considered by pediatricians and parents.

Child health and infectious disease experts say the new guidelines are not based in science but rather this administration’s deep-seated misunderstanding of vaccines — which made up much of the president’s talking points as he signed the order.

What did the executive order say?

The order sorts childhood immunizations into three categories. The core claim is that immunizations against 11 diseases should be recommended for all children, while the rest should be reserved only for high-risk groups or based on “shared clinical decision-making”:

• Immunizations recommended for all children: measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Haemophilus influenzae type B, pneumococcal disease, human papillomavirus, and varicella
• Immunizations recommended for certain high-risk groups or populations: respiratory syncytial virus monoclonal antibodies, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, meningococcal B, meningococcal ACWY, and dengue
• Immunizations based on “shared clinical decision-making”: hepatitis A, hepatitis B, rotavirus, meningococcal disease, influenza, and COVID-19

The executive order also calls for the combined measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine to be administered as three separate shots, and that all vaccines should be administered at separate medical visits. The last separate measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines were discontinued in 2009; they are not currently available in the U.S., and would have to undergo years of production and testing before they were accessible to families.

The document’s introduction notes that “instead of implementing vaccination mandates, most peer nations maintain high childhood vaccination rates through public trust and education,” insinuating that states mandating vaccines for public school students have somehow contributed to the decline in pediatric vaccination rates in the U.S.

Signing this order is the Trump administration’s attempt to push through the vaccine policies they tried to enact in January that were later stayed by a federal judge. The CDC’s July 2025 immunization schedule remains operative; this order doesn’t override that stay. It also doesn’t change what insurers are required to cover, or stop pediatricians from administering any vaccine.

What did the president say?

For years, public health experts have criticized the Trump administration for sowing fear and promoting misinformation around vaccines. During the press conference about his new executive order, Trump blamed vaccines for the increase in autism diagnosis rates. He has made similar remarks about how taking Tylenol during pregnancy causes autism, which is not true.

“Decades ago, children received only a small fraction of the vaccines required today,” he said. “In those times, people were much healthier and of course, the high rates of autism now observed did not exist. So, there’s a reason for such epidemic rates of autism. And we’re going to bring it back to much closer to where it was.”

He also stated that we should give fewer vaccines in general and no more than one per appointment, rather than the “vats” of vaccine he says they receive currently. He repeated a familiar figure: “In many cases, we were requiring 72 jabs for our beautiful, healthy, lovely, delicate little children.”

In reality, that number needs context: For starters, it counts every individual dose from birth through age 18. That includes a flu shot every year and an annual COVID shot, hypotheticals no real schedule has recommended across the entirety of childhood. So, roughly half of Trump’s “72 jabs” figure comes from those two vaccines alone. As for the number of shots children receive, even if parents opted to give them every recommended vaccine available, they would only receive 35 shots by age 5.

It also counts doses, not needles, meaning combination shots like MMR and DTaP that protect against multiple diseases in one poke are counted as multiple injections in Trump’s tally. Worth noting as well is that the average vaccine contains between 0.25 and 0.5 milliliters of fluid, which is approximately one-twentieth to one-tenth of a teaspoon.

What do health experts say?

The current childhood vaccine schedule endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics inoculates children against 18 preventable diseases and groups certain vaccines into the same appointments, and even the same shots, to minimize the number of pokes kids receive and the number of appointments families must attend. It is based on decades of scientific research to determine their safety and efficacy; vaccines remain one of the most rigorously studied medical interventions in human history.

“As measles cases reach a 35-year high in the U.S. and with cold and flu season quickly approaching, today’s executive order on vaccines is not only disheartening but dangerous. Instead of ensuring every family can access life-saving vaccines for measles, influenza, RSV and more, federal leaders are once again spreading misleading claims,” said Dr. Andrew D. Racine, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, in response to the executive order. “There is no new evidence to justify significant changes to childhood immunization guidance. The only purpose of this announcement is to sow confusion so that more people doubt the importance of vaccines.”

Racine also emphasized that dozens of studies involving millions of participants have proven there is no link between autism and vaccines.

“The American people deserve childhood vaccine recommendations that are made by qualified experts through an established, transparent process and based on the best available scientific evidence. Today’s executive order undermines all three of these fundamental standards,” said Dr. Ronald G. Nahass, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. “This action follows an alarming pattern of government efforts to reduce Americans’ access to vaccines and sow unfounded doubt about vaccine safety and effectiveness.”

What do parents have to say?

On social media, mothers immediately reacted to the president’s suggestion that they somehow take their children to even more doctors’ appointments.

“Why is nobody talking about how Trump just DOUBLED the amount of PTO moms will have to take for pediatrician appointments by decreeing that childhood immunizations be administered at separate visits?” wrote one Threads user. Other parents responded saying they doubt their PTO policies will be adjusted accordingly, and that they would obviously be expected to pay copays for each of those visits now too.

“Forcing women out of the workforce is part of the plan,” another user replied below the post.

This executive order is not law; parents can still choose vaccination for their children, and pediatricians are still able to provide them. However, it is a directive to HHS to further investigate a link between vaccines and autism, and to push for separating vaccines again.