Trump orders CDC to review childhood vaccine schedule

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday directing federal health agencies to align U.S. childhood vaccine recommendations with a scientific assessment that calls for a narrower immunization schedule. The order instructs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its advisory panel to review the assessment and update official guidance.

The action centers on a January assessment from the Department of Health and Human Services, which found the United States recommends more childhood vaccines than many peer nations. The order makes it federal policy to align the core vaccine schedule with scientific evidence and best practices from other developed countries while preserving current access to vaccines. It directs the CDC and its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to review that assessment and the latest clinical data and take appropriate steps to update the childhood and adolescent vaccine schedule.

This follows a move by the CDC in January to update its recommendations, which would reduce the number of routinely recommended immunizations for children from 17 to 11. Under those updated recommendations, vaccines for diseases including respiratory...