U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on the 10th (local time) in the Oval Office aimed at reducing the number of vaccines administered to American children. The order scales back the childhood immunization targets from the 17 diseases previously recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to just 11 diseases.

The newly announced executive order classified vaccines into three categories. First, vaccines recommended for all children; second, vaccines recommended only for high-risk children; and third, 'shared clinical decision-making vaccines,' where parents and doctors discuss the risks and benefits for the child to decide whether to vaccinate. COVID-19, influenza, and hepatitis B vaccines were included in the shared decision-making category.

Additionally, the order recommends that parents be allowed to space out vaccinations across multiple pediatric visits rather than having children receive several vaccines at once, and includes provisions for administering individual vaccines instead of the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) combination vaccine. President Trump instructed the Attorney General to pursue legal action against state governments that infringe on the right to religious or medical vaccine exemptions, and also included measures to encourage states to reduce the number of mandatory vaccines required for school enrollment.

[Autism Concerns Mentioned and 90-Day Plan Forward] Although the executive order itself did not contain a provision directly linking vaccines to autism, President Trump mentioned at the signing ceremony that concerns about a possible connection between vaccines and autism were behind the measure. He claimed that in the past, children did not receive as many vaccines as they do now, and that autism rates were lower during that period.

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the reactivated vaccine task force were directed to issue new recommendations on the timing and schedule of childhood vaccinations within 90 days, and to develop plans to find alternatives to aluminum, a commonly used vaccine ingredient. Secretary Kennedy stated that he would implement these directives even faster than the timeline set by President Trump.

[Legal Efficacy Disputes and Scientific Community Backlash] The Trump administration's attempt to reduce the number of childhood vaccinations has already been halted by a federal court. A court previously suspended the effects of Secretary Kennedy's actions—removing certain vaccines from the CDC's childhood immunization recommendations and reorganizing the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)—ruling that the measures failed to meet proper procedural and scientific standards, meaning the existing vaccination recommendations remain in effect.

Questions have also been raised about the actual legal efficacy of this executive order. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that U.S. vaccine recommendations are developed by the CDC's advisory expert committee and adopted by the CDC director, while state governments hold the authority to mandate vaccinations for entry into schools and childcare facilities.

As President Trump and Secretary Kennedy repeatedly mention a link between the number of childhood vaccines and autism, the scientific community has firmly rebutted these claims. Citing the Autism Science Foundation, The New York Times (NYT) and the WSJ reported that large-scale studies conducted across multiple countries have found no evidence that vaccines cause autism, and that there is a scientific consensus that autism is primarily related to genetic factors and early fetal brain development. Vaccine experts also stated that there is no scientific basis for drastically scaling back the childhood immunization schedule, and that parents need not worry that vaccines will cause their children to develop autism.

[Unrelated Political Remarks: Condemning Democratic Socialist Candidates] Meanwhile, at the signing ceremony held at the White House on the same day, President Trump strongly criticized Democratic presidential primary candidates with democratic socialist leanings. He compared them to 'jihadists' and said that Americans do not want radical figures involved in running the country.

He claimed that democratic socialists make extreme proposals to abolish the Supreme Court, the presidency, the Senate, and the military. He added that while he sometimes feels like abolishing the Senate himself, he would not actually do so. He further alleged that many of them come from failed countries and are trying to tell the United States how to run its own nation. Currently, candidates with democratic socialist leanings are gaining support from progressives and young voters by criticizing the Democratic Party for being passive in addressing working-class economic concerns and inequality. President Trump has framed the rise of these candidates as evidence of the Democratic Party's 'radicalization' and is leveraging this strategy for the midterm elections.