The United States government has announced a significant revision to the national childhood vaccination schedule, marking one of the most far-reaching changes to immunisation policy in decades.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, President Donald Trump said the updated schedule would reduce the number of routinely recommended childhood vaccinations, moving from what he described as 72 injections to immunisations targeting 11 “most serious and dangerous diseases.”
The revised schedule takes effect immediately, according to the administration.
The President said the new framework is based on what he termed the “gold standard of science” and aligns the United States more closely with vaccination schedules used in other developed countries.
Under the changes, parents will still be allowed to choose the full range of existing vaccinations for their children, and those vaccines will continue to be covered by insurance.
Administration officials framed the reforms as an effort to simplify childhood immunisation while maintaining protection against major infectious diseases.
The President praised senior health officials for their roles in developing the new policy, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Acting Director Jim O’Neil, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, and NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya.
The announcement has already generated strong reactions across the medical and public health community. While supporters welcomed what they described as a more “common-sense” approach and greater parental choice, some health experts said they are awaiting detailed guidance from federal agencies to assess how the revised schedule could affect disease prevention, vaccination coverage, and public health outcomes.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Health and Human Services are expected to release further technical details, including disease coverage, implementation guidelines, and recommendations for healthcare providers, in the coming days.
