Donald Trump has signed an executive order that modifies the federal recommendations for child vaccination in the United States and reduces to 11 the group of vaccines considered standard for all children. The measure comes as the country faces a strong resurgence of measles and after several months of changes in immunization policy driven by the Administration.
The new classification maintains as recommended vaccines for all children those aimed at preventing measles, mumps, rubella, polio, whooping cough, tetanus, diphtheria, Haemophilus influenzae type B disease, pneumococcal disease, human papillomavirus, and chickenpox. Other immunizations will be directed to specific at-risk groups or depend on a shared clinical decision between doctors and families. The Administration claims that vaccines remain available and covered by insurance without copayment.
The order also introduces a change in the administration of the MMR vaccine. Trump requests that, when available, the vaccines against measles, mumps, and rubella be administered separately and in different medical visits, instead of using the current MMR combination. The declared goal of the White House is to increase parental decision-making capacity and adapt the American schedule to what it considers practices of other developed countries.
Measles is regaining ground
The decision coincides with a very significant increase in measles cases in the United States. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that the country had already surpassed in 2026 the cases recorded throughout 2025, according to the most recent figures released as part of the available information on the outbreak. Reuters placed the tally at 2,465 confirmed cases in 2026 in its information from August 10.
The deterioration of vaccination coverage is one of the elements that the CDC itself points out when analyzing the evolution of measles. The coverage of the MMR vaccine among preschool children dropped from 95.2% in the 2019-2020 school year to 92.5% in 2024-2025. The CDC estimated that about 286,000 kindergarten children were at risk during that last school year.
The U.S. agency recalls that measles is an extremely contagious disease and that outbreaks can spread rapidly when the virus reaches communities with unvaccinated population pockets. The United States declared measles eliminated in 2000, although since then new outbreaks have occurred, largely related to imported cases and communities with insufficient vaccination coverage.
A change that began months ago
The modification has not occurred suddenly. In December 2025, Trump already ordered the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the CDC to review the U.S. schedule and compare it with the recommendations of other developed countries. The White House then justified the process by the need to review which vaccines should be part of the recommended group for all children.
In May 2026, the president signed another executive order that turned that review into a formal process. The document established that the schedule should align with scientific evidence and the practices of countries considered comparable by the Administration, while maintaining access to available vaccines.
The HHS subsequently announced a classification into three categories: vaccines recommended for all children, vaccines indicated for certain at-risk groups, and vaccines whose use would depend on a shared clinical decision. The new framework reduced the number of immunizations included in the first category compared to the schedule that was in effect at the end of 2024.