Trump asks RFK Jr. to ‘fast track’ vaccine schedule review

President Donald Trump is all in on Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s plan to scrutinize the list of vaccines American children get.

Trump directed Kennedy on Friday to review the childhood vaccine schedule and potentially revise it to align with those of other developed countries, most of which recommend fewer shots.

The directive, in the form of an official presidential memo, was issued hours after federal vaccine advisers downgraded decades-old guidance urging newborn immunization against hepatitis B, a virus that causes severe liver disease, within the first day of life. Trump called the move “a very good decision” on social media.

“Study is warranted to ensure that Americans are receiving the best, scientifically-supported medical advice in the world,” Trump said in the memo.

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices heard presentations Thursday and Friday at the agency’s Atlanta headquarters that questioned the wisdom of the U.S. vaccine schedule, citing those used in European countries like Denmark that recommend fewer shots for children. Public health experts — including committee liaisons representing American medical societies — countered their arguments, noting those nations’ smaller populations typically have access to universal health care that boasts high levels of prenatal care.

“In the United States, many of these infants are lost to follow up as soon as they leave the hospital,” said Adam Langer, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s hepatitis expert. “Denmark and, for that matter, virtually all other high income countries are not really peer nations.”

The presidential memo directs the Department of Health and Human Services and the CDC “to review best practices from peer, developed countries for core childhood vaccination recommendations — vaccines recommended for all children — and the scientific evidence that informs those best practices, and, if they determine that those best practices are superior to current domestic recommendations, update the United States core childhood vaccine schedule to align with such scientific evidence and best practices from peer, developed countries while preserving access to vaccines currently available to Americans.”

Trump has a long history of questioning the childhood vaccine schedule, including linking the shots to autism despite ample scientific evidence refuting a connection. Kennedy said Trump asked him to chair a vaccine safety commission during his first presidential transition, but nothing ever came of the discussion.

“Many parents and scientists have been questioning the efficacy of this ‘schedule,’ as have I!” Trump posted Friday on his social media platform, Truth Social.

“I am fully confident Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and the CDC, will get this done, quickly and correctly, for our Nation’s Children,” he added.