Controversial health policy
Trump cuts recommendations for childhood vaccinations
Updated 08/11/2026 – 02:48 amReading time: 3 minutes
Fewer vaccination recommendations, no combination preparations: Donald Trump’s government is restructuring the vaccination policy for children – and ignoring both the exploding number of cases and scientific findings.
The administration of US President Donald Trump recommends fewer vaccinations for children and wants to have combination vaccinations spread over several doctor’s visits in the future. By decree, Trump, in the presence of his controversial Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., ordered that from now on only vaccinations against eleven diseases should be recognized as central recommendations for all children. It was initially unclear whether the order would have an immediate impact. A similar restructuring of the vaccination policy was temporarily stopped by a federal court in March, and many of the powers regarding vaccination rules lie with the states.
During his appearance at the White House, the President himself also admitted that he was relying on unproven claims. He also repeated his thesis of a possible connection between vaccinations and autismfor which, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), there is no evidence.
According to the new order, vaccinations against diseases such as hepatitis B, Covid-19 and flu are no longer recommended across the board for all children. Parents could still choose to receive all vaccinations, Trump emphasized when signing the decree in the White House. According to the government, the costs for this will continue to be covered by insurance companies.
Number of measles infections has exploded since Trump took office
Trump called for the combined MMR vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella to be divided into three individual vaccinations in the future, if possible, and to be administered at different times. Together, the vaccines could potentially be “quite deadly,” Trump said. When asked by a journalist whether there was evidence of this, he replied: “No.” But he has heard from people who claim this.
According to the US health authority CDC, there is no scientific evidence of any particular benefit from splitting the MMR vaccine. Individual vaccines against measles, mumps and rubella are available USA currently not available. Health experts warn that additional doctor’s appointments could lead to children remaining unprotected longer or missing subsequent vaccinations.
The number of measles infections is already at its highest level in decades. In 2000, the disease was actually already considered defeated in the USA. After that there were only sporadic smaller outbreaks. In the past year and a half – Trump has been in office since January 2025 – there have been more cases than in the previous 25 years combined.
Studies show no connection with autism
Trump once again placed the new course in the context of the sharp increase in the number of autism diagnoses. The president said he used to take his own children to several separate vaccination appointments. “I think this will have a big impact on autism.”
Health Minister Kennedy also said the government wanted to further investigate possible links between vaccinations, their timing and autism. He explained that an increase in autism diagnoses cannot be explained solely by better detection and must also have environmental causes.
