An executive order signed by Donald Trump with all the fanfare of a surprise root canal on Friday is poised to dramatically reshape public health for U.S. children. The order instructs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to cut the number of recommended childhood vaccines almost in half - essentially telling parents that the current schedule is too much of a hassle.
The vague language of the order points to a “scientific assessment” published in January by anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy’s Health and Human Services Department. It doesn't explicitly say it strips vaccines for seven diseases from the schedule, but it might as well have a neon sign reading: "We’re about to make things interesting."
The assessment, co-authored by the subsequently fired vaccine skeptic Dr. Tracy Beth Høeg, concluded that the CDC director should revise the schedule to keep vaccines for 10 diseases - measles, mumps, rubella, polio, pertussis, tetanus, diphtheria, Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib), pneumococcal disease, and human papillomavirus (HPV) - plus varicella (chickenpox). That would mean removing vaccines for seven other diseases entirely. It also recommended slashing the HPV vaccine from two or three doses down to a single shot, because apparently one jab is plenty for a virus that causes cancer.
The order directs the CDC and its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to review the HHS assessment and update the schedule accordingly. The White House, with a straight face, said: “It is the policy of the United States that the core childhood vaccine schedule should be aligned with scientific evidence and best practices from peer, developed countries while preserving access to vaccines currently available to Americans.”
Fifteen states with Democratic governors are suing HHS and RFK Jr. over the proposed changes, arguing that stripping vaccines of universally recommended status will make children sicker and strain state resources. They also flagged a CDC memo downgrading the RSV vaccine recommendation. Dr. William Schaffner, a professor at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and a former ACIP member, warned: “If we do not progressively vaccinate children from certain diseases, sooner or later we will see the resurgence of these diseases, just as we are seeing with recent outbreaks of measles. The consequences will be more sick children, more doctor visits, and more hospitalizations.”
The lawsuit also points out that the HHS assessment focused heavily on Denmark as a “peer country” for vaccine schedules. But as state attorneys noted: “Denmark is not a ‘peer country’ in relation to vaccines because, among other things, unlike the US, it has a small, homogenous population and universal healthcare. And Denmark’s vaccine policies are a global outlier that cannot be retrofitted to the US.” Even Danish health officials are baffled. Dr. Anders Hviid, an official at Denmark’s equivalent of the CDC, told the New York Times: “It’s not at all fair to say look at Denmark unless you can match the other characteristics of Denmark.” He also noted the irony that Kennedy’s department relied on Denmark, given that Hviid and other Danish officials had previously debunked Kennedy’s theories of vaccine harm.