WHO criticizes U.S. reduction in recommended childhood vaccines

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has criticized new United States health policies that reduce the number of recommended childhood vaccines. Tedros stated that the changes are ‘not in line with decades of scientific evidence’ and argued that vaccination policy should be guided by rigorous, independent, and transparent scientific review rather than political influence.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order reducing the number of diseases for which the federal government recommends universal childhood vaccination from 18 to 11. Developed alongside Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the measure places vaccines for influenza, COVID-19, hepatitis A and B, rotavirus, and meningitis under risk-based criteria or shared decision-making between parents and doctors. The order also mandates a review of the federal childhood immunization schedule.

The WHO chief warned that delaying vaccines or unnecessarily separating doses does not increase safety and may leave children unprotected. He emphasized that vaccines are among the most effective tools for preventing deadly diseases. The decision follows President Trump’s questioning of the safety of the MMR vaccine and his linking of vaccination to rising autism rates in the country.