Trump administration quietly signals possible changes coming to childhood vaccine schedule

HHS quietly signals possible changes coming to childhood vaccination schedule

A request for information from the Department of Health and Human Services seeks public input as to how vaccines are categorized

The Trump administration is weighing changes to the government’s recommended vaccine schedules that experts say would, if adopted, have far-reaching consequences for public health.

Last week the Department of Health and Human Services posted a request for public input on how vaccines are categorized. Under the current policy, vaccines are assigned to one of three different categories: Some shots are recommended for all children and adults, while others are recommended for at-risk individuals. And some are categorized as recommended based on shared clinical decision-making with a doctor.

The request for comment is hot on the heels of President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at limiting childhood vaccinations and overhauling their administration. The order, which called for breaking up the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine into separate shots, has been widely criticized by health experts as a move that was not based on scientific evidence and that is likely to result in fewer children being vaccinated against preventable diseases .

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According to a notice posted in the Federal Register, HHS is considering new categories for vaccines, such as “recommended, but not during infancy” or “recommended with qualification,” although it’s unclear what these designations might mean. The wording in the notice suggests the department is considering changes based on the “strength of the evidence” for certain vaccines and the benefit to individuals and the broader population, as well as “individual circumstances and values.”

“HHS is laying the groundwork for having fewer vaccines be routine, and more may be placed into conditional, individualized or age-delayed categories,” says David Mandell, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania.