Trump Signs Executive Order Overhauling Childhood Vaccine Schedule

In a show of support for his health and human services secretary, President Trump is directing federal agencies to overhaul the existing childhood vaccine schedule and slash the number of vaccines recommended for all children, Mr. Trump signed an executive order on Monday that the White House says will align the childhood vaccine schedule with “gold-standard science.” The president said the federal government will recommend 11 “core” vaccines for diseases such as measles, mumps, rubella, polio, chickenpox, and whooping cough for all children. Vaccines for other diseases such as hepatitis b, COVID-19 and influenza will no longer be recommended for all children. Mr. Trump also said the guidance will recommend administering the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine as separate doses at separate visits, a nod to concerns raised by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who for decades has questioned whether the cocktails are too potent for young children to process at once without causing harmful side effects. Mr. Trump said that “decades ago” children received fewer vaccines and were “much healthier.” “And, of course, the high rates of autism did not exist,” Mr. Trump said, referencing an as-yet unproven causal correlation between the vaccine schedule and increasing disabilities among children.Mr. Kennedy has long suggested a potential link between childhood vaccinations and autism. Last November, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated language on its website to assert that it is not an “evidence-based claim” to say that vaccines do not cause autism because “studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism.” Mr. Kennedy told CNN’s Dana Bash last month that the president “certainly” wants him to investigate whether a link exists between infant vaccinations and autism.Last month a study conducted by researchers at the University of Washington of more than 2.5 million American children who received the MMR vaccine found no connection between childhood vaccines and autism. Mr. Trump told reporters on Monday that while “we do not know exactly what the cause is with respect to autism, it is essential to our research efforts that we have the very best vaccine recommendations in the world.”The president said the new guidance will recommend that children receive about 20 percent of the vaccines they would have received in “one big shot.”The director of the National Institutes of Health, Jay Bhattacharya, told reporters that the NIH is funding “major research teams” to look into the causes of autism. “Science takes time. It’s very frustrating,” Dr. Bhattacharya said. “The main thing we’ve accomplished … is we’ve changed how people and the scientific community thinks about autism. You’ve given them permission to ask the question that otherwise would have been different to answer. If you come to an answer that links autism to some other politically correct things … as a scientist you fear that your career is going to be over.”Dr. Bhattacharya touted the changes in the vaccine recommendations, saying they give parents “a choice” about how to vaccinate their children. He said he believes the measles vaccine is important, but added, “We shouldn’t be keeping kids out of school because (some parents) made different decisions than other parents.”Advocates of administering the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines at once say splitting up the vaccines could leave children at risk of those diseases for longer. Mr. Trump acknowledged that he has not seen evidence that combining the MMR vaccine is “lethal,” but he has spoken with people who “say that it is that way.” “I say, ‘Well, let’s say there’s a five percent chance of that, let’s split it up,’” he said. In January, the Trump administration sought to reduce the number of vaccines recommended for all children. A federal judge at Boston blocked that move, however, finding that Mr. Kennedy did not follow the procedures for overhauling the vaccine advisory committee. In addition to updating the schedule, the executive order also directs the Department of Justice to bring legal action against states accused of violating parental rights or religious or medical exemptions.

Trump Signs Executive Order Overhauling Childhood Vaccine Schedule

Trump Signs Executive Order Overhauling Childhood Vaccine Schedule

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