Trump Orders Federal Agencies to Align Vaccine Policies With Study Recommending Fewer Childhood Immunizations
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order directing federal agencies to align childhood vaccination policies with a scientific assessment that recommended a reduced vaccine schedule for children.
The order, signed on May 29, cites a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) assessment released in January that compared U.S. childhood vaccination recommendations with those of other developed countries.
According to the assessment, the United States recommends more childhood vaccines than any comparable nation, with some European countries administering less than half as many vaccine doses.
Under the executive order, all federal departments and agencies must ensure that regulations governing childhood and adolescent immunizations are consistent with recommendations issued by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), while maintaining public access to currently available vaccines.
The order also instructs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its vaccine advisory committee to review the HHS assessment alongside the latest clinical evidence and consider updates to the national childhood vaccination schedule.
As part of the review, federal health officials are asked to explore ways of providing parents and physicians with greater flexibility regarding the timing and sequence of routine vaccinations.
“The policy of the United States is that the core childhood vaccine schedule should be guided by scientific evidence and best practices from comparable developed nations, while preserving access to vaccines currently available to Americans,” the order states. It also affirms the federal government’s commitment to protecting religious freedom and enforcing legal protections for parents.
Following the HHS assessment, the CDC released a revised childhood vaccination schedule in January. The updated guidance removed broad recommendations for vaccines against rotavirus, influenza, meningococcal disease, hepatitis A, and hepatitis B.
Instead, the agency said decisions regarding those vaccinations should be made through “shared clinical decision-making,” a process in which parents and healthcare providers jointly determine the most appropriate course of action.
The changes stemmed from a December 2025 memorandum signed by Trump directing HHS and the CDC to review U.S. vaccine recommendations and compare them with vaccination practices in peer nations. The memo specifically highlighted Denmark, Japan, and Germany as countries that recommend fewer childhood vaccines and vaccine doses.
A White House fact sheet accompanying the memo noted that the United States recommends annual influenza vaccinations beginning at six months of age, while many comparable countries do not include yearly flu shots as part of their core childhood immunization programs.
The fact sheet also pointed out that administering the hepatitis B vaccine at birth is standard practice in the United States, whereas many developed countries generally reserve the vaccine for newborns whose mothers test positive for the infection.
The revised vaccine schedule has faced legal challenges. In March, a federal judge in Massachusetts blocked its implementation after the American Academy of Pediatrics and several other organizations filed a lawsuit arguing that federal officials had not adequately reviewed relevant scientific data before making the changes.
The Department of Health and Human Services has appealed the ruling, and the legal dispute remains ongoing.