President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday that reshapes the federal government's approach to childhood vaccines. The Trump executive order childhood vaccines plan cuts the number of routinely recommended shots to 11. It also directs that the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine be split into three separate injections. During the signing, Trump repeated his long-standing but scientifically discredited claim that rising vaccination rates are linked to increased autism diagnoses.
Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump said the changes would bring the United States in line with other developed nations. "This updated recommendation finally aligns the United States with other advanced and developed nations around the world," he said, according to CNBC. "More importantly, it aligns us with common sense and knowledge."
Under the order, children would receive the measles, mumps and rubella components as three individual shots. Each dose would be given at a separate doctor visit rather than in one combined shot. "The MMR we want to have separate visits, separate times," Trump said, according to CNBC. CNN reported that Trump described the change more bluntly from the Oval Office. "We're reducing them," he said. "It's not only that you're doing fewer vaccines, or jabs, as they say, but you're doing them in a series of visits to the doctor."
The Guardian reported Trump telling reporters that families "should have five separate visits for vaccines rather than giving them all in the same day." Trump acknowledged that the added appointments could be burdensome for parents. Still, he argued the tradeoff was worthwhile. "It's inconvenient, it's five stops, but it's something that I think will have a huge impact on autism," he said, according to CNBC.
Decades of scientific research have found no connection between childhood vaccines and autism. Both CNBC and CNN reiterated this point in their coverage. CNN noted that extensive studies have yielded no evidence of such a link. The Guardian similarly flagged Trump's autism claims as unsupported by evidence. Trump nonetheless told reporters, as quoted by the Guardian: "Decades ago, children received only a small fraction of the vaccines required today. In those times, people were much healthy, 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."
Beyond the MMR split, the order restructures the broader childhood immunization schedule into tiers. According to a draft obtained by CNN, all children would still be recommended to receive vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Hib, pneumococcal disease, HPV and chickenpox. But shots against hepatitis A, hepatitis B, meningococcal B, meningococcal ACWY, dengue and RSV monoclonal antibodies would now be recommended only for high-risk populations. That marks a shift from current guidance, which recommends most of those shots for all children.
The Guardian reported that the administration is also dropping recommendations for the hepatitis B, Covid-19 and influenza vaccines for children altogether. CNN reported that hepatitis shots, along with rotavirus, meningococcal disease, influenza and Covid-19 vaccines, would instead fall under "shared decision-making." That means parents would discuss the choice directly with a child's doctor rather than receiving a blanket recommendation.
The order also directs the Department of Justice to examine whether states are violating exemptions to childhood vaccine mandates. That review would cover parental authority, disability accommodations, and religious or medical exceptions, according to CNBC.
The move builds on efforts already underway at the Department of Health and Human Services under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic. CNN reported that Trump's announcement closely follows an HHS effort from January to pare down the recommended vaccine schedule. That earlier change prompted medical groups to sue, and a judge subsequently blocked it. CNN also noted that Trump has pressed Kennedy in recent months to take further action on the childhood schedule. The president has also pushed Kennedy to intensify the search for links between vaccines and autism, despite the lack of scientific support for such a connection.
The Guardian reported that the changes largely mirror recommendations first put forward earlier this year by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. That CDC vaccine advisory panel has been restructured by Kennedy with several vaccine skeptics. Those earlier recommendations were blocked by a federal judge. The Guardian noted that further legal challenges to this latest overhaul are likely.
The administration has repeatedly pointed to European countries as justification. Officials argue that many do not mandate childhood vaccinations. But the Guardian's fact-check found that claim misleading. Twelve European Union nations, including France, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Croatia, Bulgaria, Czechia, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia, do require measles vaccination for infants. The Guardian also noted a practical obstacle to Trump's MMR plan. No separately licensed vaccines currently exist for measles, mumps and rubella individually. Developing and licensing them would take years.
Asked whether parents would be able to afford the added doctor visits and co-pays, Trump said the administration would "work with the families" to help with costs. He did not offer specifics, CNBC reported. The White House separately confirmed that the changes to vaccine recommendations would not affect insurance coverage for the shots.
The order lands at a fraught moment for U.S. public health. CNBC reported that the country is in the midst of its worst year for measles infections in decades. Childhood vaccination rates have declined since the Covid-19 pandemic. CNN reported that some of Trump's own political advisers have expressed longstanding concern that pushing controversial vaccine policy could prove unpopular. They worry it could alienate voters ahead of November's midterm elections.
Medical experts cited by CNBC warned that breaking the MMR vaccine into three separate shots raises risks. Requiring multiple additional appointments could mean children miss doses or fall behind on the immunization schedule entirely. That would further strain vaccination coverage at a time when measles cases are already climbing nationwide.
