Trump Signs an Order Cutting the Childhood Vaccine Schedule From 18 Diseases to 11 — and Asks States to Rewrite Their School Laws to Match

President Trump signed an executive order on August 10, 2026 establishing what the White House calls “Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations.” Per the White House fact sheet issued the same day, the order recommends all children be immunized against 11 diseases, down from the 18 in the CDC’s 2024 schedule, and shifts the rest to “shared clinical decision-making” between parents and clinicians. It also recommends splitting the combined MMR vaccine into three single-disease shots at separate visits and advises states with school-entry requirements to consider updating their laws to match.

Federal immunization recommendations are formally advisory, but they shape insurance coverage, clinical practice and state school-entry mandates, so guidance carries broad practical effect. The order asks states to revisit statutes that legislatures rather than the executive branch set, and routes a question historically handled through the CDC’s advisory committee into a presidential directive. Medical organizations publicly objected, saying the evidence does not support the change.

The order was signed August 10, 2026. It follows a December 2025 memorandum and a May 2026 executive order on the same subject, and comes after a judge in March 2026 blocked an earlier HHS effort to cut the schedule. No court has ruled on this order.