“This order reflects the will of the vast majority of parents across the nation—parents who want the CDC to provide transparent data but not mandate their families’ health decisions.” —Dr. Joseph Varon
The Independent Medical Alliance—a coalition of independent doctors, healthcare providers, and researchers—applauded this week’s Presidential Executive Order, which directs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to update the U.S. childhood and adolescent vaccine schedule in alignment with practices used by comparable developed nations.
Signed May 29, the Executive Order builds on a December 2025 Presidential Memorandum and a subsequent January 2026 HHS scientific assessment, which found that the current U.S. schedule recommends significantly more vaccine doses than most peer nations. The order directs ACIP to review that assessment and, where evidence supports it, revise recommendations with explicit guidance to give “maximum flexibility” to parents and physicians regarding the timing and sequencing of routine immunizations.
“Independent physicians have long called for the kind of rigorous, comparative review,” said Dr. Joseph Varon, President and Chief Medical Officer of the Independent Medical Alliance. “This order reflects the will of the vast majority of parents across the nation—parents who want the CDC to provide transparent data but not mandate their families’ health decisions. We look forward to a process grounded in science, not industry and institutional bias.”
The order initiates a formal scientific review process that will be conducted through ACIP—the same expert advisory body that has always governed the vaccine schedule—with the addition of international benchmarking data as a guiding resource.
The Independent Medical Alliance has been a strong advocate for increased transparency in vaccine safety reporting and strengthened informed consent protocols. Earlier this year, IMA was formally appointed as an advisor to ACIP, and several IMA senior fellows have been appointed to serve on ACIP and other HHS committees.
