Trump urges agencies to align with study calling for narrower childhood vaccine recommendations

President Donald Trump on Friday endorsed a January report from the Department of Health and Human Services that calls for reducing the number of vaccines recommended for American children. In an executive order, Trump directed federal agencies to align their policies with the study, which was commissioned in December and reflects long-standing demands from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The report argues that the United States recommends more childhood vaccines than many other countries.

The administration had already taken steps to narrow childhood vaccine recommendations based on the report, but a federal judge in Massachusetts blocked the move. The administration is appealing that ruling. Trump’s new order gives the study added authority and directs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to review its findings and take appropriate steps to update vaccine guidance. It also instructs agencies to make sure regulations, funding and other actions are consistent with the report while preserving Americans’ current access to vaccines.

Under the study’s proposed framework, all children would still be vaccinated against 11 diseases. Other vaccines, including those for flu, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, some forms of meningitis and RSV, would be recommended only for high-risk groups or through what doctors call shared decision-making. The order says the CDC should provide maximum flexibility for parents and doctors in considering those shots.

The federal government does not set school vaccine mandates, which are controlled by states. But CDC recommendations often shape state rules. In response to the Trump administration’s vaccine actions, some states have started forming their own alliances to counter federal guidance.

Kennedy, a longtime vaccine critic, has sought to bring his views into national health policy. Last year, he announced that the CDC would no longer recommend COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children and pregnant women, a change public health experts questioned because they said no new evidence justified it. In June 2025, he dismissed the CDC’s 17-member vaccine advisory committee and later replaced members with several vaccine skeptics.

The January report said vaccine recommendations for U.S. children have expanded over recent decades and pointed to countries where school attendance does not require any vaccines. Trump’s endorsement gives the report new political force at a time when the administration has been trying to emphasize broader health themes, including nutrition and healthy eating, alongside Kennedy’s more controversial positions on vaccines.