Washington Examiner healthcare reporter Gabrielle Etzel said President Donald Trump’s executive order changing the nation’s childhood vaccine schedule represents a sweeping shift in federal vaccine policy, though the changes are unlikely to immediately affect school vaccine requirements.
“I will say for one, we heard rumbles last week that this was coming down the pipe, but it took me by surprise,” Etzel said on Newsmax’s Ike Wingate America Tuesday. “I wasn’t expecting something like this on this scale, so quickly. It’s a sweeping order.”
Recommended Stories
Etzel noted that the order makes several significant changes, which include reducing the number of diseases targeted by childhood vaccines and separating the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine into individual shots.
She emphasized, however, that the changes will take time to play out, particularly because individual states largely control vaccine requirements for children attending schools.
“It’s going to take a bit of time to really see these things come to light,” Etzel said.
The order comes amid a broader debate over vaccine requirements and declining public confidence in vaccines, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic. Major medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and American Academy of Pediatrics, have criticized the changes and urged parents to consult their pediatricians when making decisions about vaccines.
Etzel said the controversy surrounding COVID vaccines and vaccine mandates has played a role in fueling skepticism.
“The COVID-19 pandemic and the vaccines related to that pandemic really did undermine confidence,” Etzel said. “Vaccine mandates do undermine confidence across the whole spectrum.”
Etzel also addressed the debate over vaccines and autism, noting that critics of vaccines have often focused on the cumulative exposure children receive from multiple vaccines, rather than the safety of individual vaccines.
TRUMP SIGNS ORDER SHRINKING CHILDHOOD VACCINATION SCHEDULE
She pointed to the importance of distinguishing between safety studies conducted on individual vaccines and broader claims about cumulative vaccine exposure.
Etzel said the executive order is also intended to put pressure on states that establish vaccine requirements for schools, while potentially setting up additional legal challenges over the federal government’s authority to influence vaccine policy.
