U.S. President Revisits Children's Vaccination Policy
By Nino Kopaleishvili
Monday, August 17, 2026
U.S. President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order that aims to incorporate best practices from developed peer countries to support parental choices on childhood vaccinations.
The document identifies essential immunization requirements and defines three categories of vaccinations, reducing the number of vaccines obligatory for children.
According to the executive order, "Delivering Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations for Americans," signed by President Trump last week, children in the United States will receive only 11 immunization shots instead of the 18 recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2024.
"The scientific assessment found that the United States currently recommends more childhood vaccines than any peer nation, including more than twice as many vaccine doses as some European nations," reads an executive order on core recommendations with best practices from peer-developed countries signed earlier by the end of May.
The new order signed in August also suggests that children should no longer be vaccinated against measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) simultaneously. The standard clarifies that the combined MMR vaccine should be replaced by three separate single-disease shots, and each childhood immunization should be administered during separate medical visits.
Overall, the Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations for Americans describes three categories of childhood immunization recommendations.
The first category presents a group of immunizations recommended for all children; specifically, children should be vaccinated against measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Haemophilus influenzae type b, pneumococcal disease, human papillomavirus, and varicella.
The two other categories include vaccinations against hepatitis and meningococcal diseases.
Respiratory, hepatitis, and meningococcal vaccines are classified in the second category for high-risk groups or populations.
The third category of immunizations, defined based on shared clinical decision-making, includes rotavirus, influenza, and COVID-19, among other types of hepatitis and meningococcal diseases.
The executive order obliges the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the HHS Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines, to present plans to the President on the advancement of vaccine research and choices for American parents within 90 days after the order is signed. These plans should be in compliance with the law.
In addition, the Secretary is expected to ensure continuous assessment of the risks and benefits of all childhood vaccines, taking into account U.S. and international data, according to the White House release.
