Donald Trump has signed an executive order restructuring childhood vaccine recommendations in the US, reducing the list to 11 key vaccines and recommending separate doses for the MMR, sparking controversy over vaccination practices and autism claims.
Donald Trump has launched the most sweeping rewrite of US childhood vaccine policy in decades, signing an executive order that cuts the federal list of routine immunisations to 11, encourages parents to space out doses and gives families more discretion over the timetable. The move marks a sharp escalation in the administration’s long-running effort to reshape vaccine guidance, with Trump again tying the issue to autism despite the lack of evidence for a causal link.
According to the White House, the order signed on May 29 directs the Department of Health and Human Services to review how US recommendations compare with those in peer developed countries and to use that assessment to align the schedule with what the administration calls international best practice. A later White House fact sheet said the aim was to identify vaccines that are consistently recommended across comparable nations and apply those findings to the American schedule.
The latest action goes further than earlier steps taken this year. The CDC said on January 5 that it had accepted recommendations from a scientific review ordered under a presidential memorandum and would update the childhood schedule while maintaining access to existing vaccines. But reporting by Axios and The Associated Press on Monday said Trump’s new order would go beyond schedule alignment by requiring the MMR vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella to be split into three separate injections given at different visits. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has long questioned routine immunisation policy, has backed a broader overhaul of childhood vaccination practices.
Trump defended the shift by arguing that the United States has recommended more shots than similar countries and claimed children receive as many as 72 doses. He said the administration would now recognise only 11 core vaccines for the most serious diseases. That position is at odds with mainstream medical consensus, which has found no evidence that combination vaccines or the standard childhood schedule cause autism.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
