Articles
More Than 210 Groups Say Vaccine Executive Order ‘Would Leave Children Less Protected’
Melissa Jenco, Senior News Editor, AAP.org
The AAP and more than 210 groups are speaking out together in opposition of a new executive order seeking to reduce and space out recommended childhood vaccines.
The groups representing physicians, nurses, other medical and public health professionals, scientists and families note there is no scientific evidence for making the changes laid out in the order.
“As measles surges across the United States and as respiratory virus season approaches, families deserve clear guidance from federal health officials that is grounded in science and aimed at protecting children’s health,” the groups said in a statement. “Instead, the White House released an Executive Order that undermines confidence in childhood vaccinations and recommends changes that would leave children less protected and families more confused.”
Groups joining the statement include the American Medical Association, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Public Health Association and Autism Science Foundation.
President Donald J. Trump’s executive order recommends all children get vaccines to protect them from 11 diseases, down from 18. Some vaccines typically given to children are recommended only for those considered high-risk while some would be available based on shared clinical decision-making.
The AAP continues to recommend protection against 18 diseases as laid out in its 2026 immunization schedule. That schedule is built on decades of research and continuous safety monitoring. It was formally endorsed by 12 leading medical and health care organizations while more than 200 additional groups came out in support.
Trump’s executive order also calls for administering measles, mumps, rubella vaccine as separate, single-disease shots and administering all childhood immunizations at separate medical visits “to the maximum extent feasible.”
Experts noted these changes would not be feasible or safe. Individual vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella have not been available in the U.S. since they were phased out of production in 2009. Rolling them out as individual shots would take years and mean more trips to the doctor, more shots and more time without protection from dangerous diseases. Measles cases already are at a 35-year high amid rising misinformation and declining vaccination rates.
The executive order does not change federal vaccine policy, but officials have said they hope states will implement the recommendations. They are similar to those a federal judge blocked from implementation in March while an AAP lawsuit against the administration continues.
The executive order also directs the attorney general to take action against state laws that don’t allow religious exemptions from vaccine requirements. In addition, it calls for the Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines to offer options to administer single rather than combination vaccines, assess ideal timing and sequencing of vaccines, develop additional alternative adjuvants to aluminum and improve safety monitoring within 90 days.
While the executive order does not mention autism, President Donald J. Trump repeatedly linked vaccines to autism during his remarks announcing the order. His comments ignore the dozens of studies involving millions of people that have found no link between vaccines and autism.
“Elevating these debunked claims does nothing to support families of children with autism,” the health and patient groups said. “In fact, it diverts resources away from promising areas of research.”
The groups called for families with questions about vaccines, health or development to talk with their child’s clinician.
Source:
AAP.org
Back to Archive