WHO defends science-based vaccine schedule amid US political intervention

The WHO has reaffirmed its evidence-based childhood immunisation recommendations in response to the US government’s efforts to realign the vaccination schedule, highlighting ongoing disputes over vaccine policy and scientific integrity.

The World Health Organisation has pushed back against Donald Trump’s move to reshape the U.S. childhood immunisation schedule, saying its own recommendations are grounded in decades of evidence and expert review. At a briefing in Geneva, WHO spokesperson Tarik Jašarevic said the agency’s guidance is “science-based” and built with national authorities and independent advisory groups. He said the timing of each vaccine is chosen after careful study of disease risk and how children’s immune systems develop.

Trump signed an executive order in May directing federal health agencies to review childhood vaccine recommendations and align the U.S. schedule more closely with what the White House called best practices from peer developed countries. The order said the review should draw on a scientific assessment from the Department of Health and Human Services, which compared U.S. guidance with that of other nations, examined vaccine uptake and public trust and looked at clinical and epidemiological evidence.

The president has said the changes are meant to give Americans the “best scientific information” and preserve parental authority and religious freedom. The White House also said the goal was to protect access to existing vaccines while updating recommendations. But vaccine experts argue that comparing the U.S. directly with other countries can be misleading because disease risks, population patterns and health systems differ.

The move has drawn sharp criticism from doctors, public health specialists and vaccine manufacturers, who say the current schedule reflects long-term evidence and is tailored to American children’s needs. The American Academy of Paediatrics said there was no new evidence to justify major changes, while Michael Osterholm, a public health expert, urged parents to keep relying on evidence-based recommendations from expert advisers. The dispute also revives long-running concerns over the administration’s embrace of claims linking vaccines to autism, a connection that studies have not supported.