Comments:by Sarah Davis
President Trump is signing off on a decision from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) earlier this year to cut down on the number of required vaccinations for children.
The president endorsed these adjusted immunization requirements in an executive order on Friday. Trump cited his administration’s commitment to “protecting religious liberty and parental authority” in the order.
“Therefore, 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 and that the Federal Government will continue to protect religious freedom and enforce all legal protections for parents,” the order stated.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reduced its recommended number of vaccinations for children from 17 to 11 earlier this year. The CDC now recommends that parents and physicians should be left to determine whether children need shots for diseases like the flu, COVID-19 and rotavirus.
Shots for diseases like dengue fever, hepatitis A and B and meningitis are now only recommended for “high-risk” children.