NOW PLAYING
The president of the American Medical Association on Monday said President Trump’s new recommendations on childhood immunizations put “children’s health at risk,” joining the chorus of medical experts criticizing the executive order.
“Vaccines are among the most thoroughly studied, effective tools we have to protect children from serious vaccine-preventable diseases,” Dr. Willie Underwood III said in a release. “Decisions about how and when vaccines are used should be driven by rigorous scientific evidence, patient safety, and independent medical and public health expertise.
“Altering a proven vaccination schedule without credible evidence risks weakening public confidence and putting children’s health at risk.”
Trump on Monday signed an executive order recommending pediatricians split up the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) across three separate visits for children.
His order also split vaccines into categories: those recommended for children, recommended for children at high risk of infection or recommended after consultation with a physician.
All children should receive separate vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Hib, pneumococcal disease, HPV and varicella, commonly known as chicken pox, under Trump’s order.
But in a change from prior federal guidance, the order recommends only high-risk children should receive respiratory syncytial virus monoclonal antibodies, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, meningococcal B, meningococcal ACWY and dengue vaccines.
While states set their own childhood vaccination schedules, the federal government provides recommendations as a guideline. While signing the order in the Oval Office, the president argued the move would contribute to declining rates of autism in children — despite there being no scientifically-proven evidence of a link between vaccinations and autism.
“Decades ago, children received only a small fraction of the vaccines required today. In those times, people were much [healthier], and of course, the high rates of autism now observed did not exist,” Trump said, flanked by Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has claimed that vaccines cause autism.
“So there’s a reason for such epidemic rates of autism, and we’re going to bring it back to where it was,” the president added. The order also directed HHS to improve vaccine safety monitoring, transparency and research.
Underwood contrasted Trump’s guidelines with the childhood immunization schedule from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), which he said recommends vaccines “based on specific disease risks and healthcare delivery in the U.S.”
He added, “Extensive evidence from decades of scientific studies shows no link between vaccines and autism. If you have questions about vaccines, talk to your child’s physician. Putting our children’s health at risk is not an option.”
Underwood is one of multiple critics in the medical community of the order. Dr. Andrew Racine, the president of the AAP, said Monday the president’s recommendations were “not only disheartening but dangerous.”
Outgoing Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a medical doctor who voted to confirm Kennedy last year despite expressing reservations about the then-nominee’s prior rhetoric on vaccines, also said Trump had “no expertise” to issue the new guidelines, which he called “so wrong.”
Cassidy wrote on social media, “Breaking up vaccines will mean children have to get more shots to get the same protection, not fewer shots. It will increase hesitancy and make children less safe.”
Add as preferred source on Google Tags Bill Cassidy Donald Trump Robert F. Kennedy Jr.Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Comments: Link copiedMore Healthcare News
See All
Administration Trump says he hasn’t spoken to Blanche or Pirro about prosecuting Fauci by Max Rego 4 hours ago Administration / 4 hours ago 
