During his first term, US President Donald Trump strongly opposed the measures introduced by health authorities to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. He refused to wear a mask or get vaccinated, often labeling those who supported such precautions as failures, charlatans, or profiteers.
After his re-election, President Trump appointed Senator Robert Kennedy Jr., a well-known critic of vaccines and preventive health measures, as Secretary of Health. Kennedy applied his views through a series of changes, the most recent of which marked a major shift, as the list of recommended vaccines for American children was drastically reduced, cutting routine immunizations from 17 diseases to 11. Officials announced at a press conference that Jim O’Neill, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), updated the agency’s immunization schedule to reflect these changes, effective immediately. This marks a major shift in vaccine policy across the United States, and other countries will likely be influenced to follow suit, whether out of fear, respect, conviction, or because the US already supplies them with these vaccines. Although each of the 50 US states, rather than the federal government, which oversees CDC, has the authority to set preventive vaccination requirements, CDC recommendations carry significant influence over state regulations.
Meanwhile, public health experts have strongly criticized the drastic changes, arguing that federal officials have provided no evidence to justify them and have ignored the opinions of vaccine specialists. As reported by The New York Times, Dr. Helen Chu, a physician and immunologist at the University of Washington in Seattle and a former member of the Federal Advisory Committee on Vaccines, stated, “The sudden change to the childhood immunization schedule in the United States is very concerning and unnecessary, and will endanger the health of children in the United States.”
Dr. Chu also criticized health officials’ claims that the move would increase public confidence in vaccines and raise vaccination rates, warning that it is more likely to have the opposite effect. She stressed that parents are already concerned about vaccine safety based on news reports, and the recent changes will only increase confusion and reduce vaccination rates. Dr. Chu warned that declining confidence in vaccines could lead to a steady drop in immunization and a resurgence of preventable diseases such as whooping cough and measles, which saw more cases in the United States in 2025 than in any year since 1993.
Dr. Sean O’Leary, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Committee on Infectious Diseases, commented, “Unfortunately, it is becoming increasingly clear that we no longer trust our federal government to provide reliable information about vaccines. This is a tragedy that will cause unnecessary suffering.”
Dr. O’Leary explained that the academy will continue to publish evidence-based vaccination schedules, prioritizing the health and safety of Americans rather than political agendas. It has also filed a lawsuit against health authorities after $12 million in grants for its child health programs were revoked. The vaccines affected by the changes include those for hepatitis A, hepatitis B, meningococcal disease, rotavirus, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus. I hope the Ministry of Health will carefully consider this important issueBy
Ahmad alsarraf e-mail: [email protected]
