President Donald Trump has revived his administration’s attempts to alter the U.S.’ longstanding childhood immunization schedule, signing an executive order on Monday meant to narrow the number of vaccinations kids receive and space those shots out among more medical visits.
The “Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations” Trump signed Monday calls for lowering the number of universally recommended shots to 11 from 17. It also states that the MMR vaccine should be split into three separate shots once available domestically, directs all childhood vaccines to be administered at separate appointments, and asks a Health and Human Services Department task force to come up with a plan to adjust the overall schedule “as appropriate” within 90 days.
At a press briefing in the Oval Office, Trump said the order “finally aligns the United States with other advanced and developed nations around the world.”
“More importantly, it aligns us with common sense and knowledge,” he claimed.
The administration didn’t provide any new scientific evidence in support of the proposed changes, which were made with the help of the president’s advisers and go against established science. It’s also unclear what kind of authority the order has. Alterations to vaccine policy are made through recommendations of an expert Centers for Disease Control and Prevention panel that are ratified by the agency. And states, not the federal government, choose which shots are mandatory before children go to school or daycare.
