“Restoring parental authority, simplifying the schedule, and adding time between shots are big steps toward restoring sanity in US childhood vaccines.” — Dr. Kat Lindley
The Independent Medical Alliance – a coalition of independent doctors, healthcare providers, and researchers – today praised President Trump’s executive order requiring changes to the federal vaccine guidelines, including aligning the childhood vaccine schedule with the “gold standard” vaccine recommendations from peer nations.
“This executive order is a big step toward restoring sanity in US childhood vaccines,” said Kat Lindley, Director of the IMA Fellowship Program. “This move strengthens parental authority, personal autonomy, and individual consent, three fundamentals of good health care that have been sorely missing from government healthcare policy.”
HHS conducted a study that found the US recommends more than twice as many vaccine doses as some peer nations, which has contributed to the growing angst among parents wanting federal vaccine policy that prioritizes parental authority and full transparency about risks.
“In calling for more research and future recommendations, the executive order also recognizes that today’s action is just one step in the overall progress toward ensuring full vaccine safety for America’s children,” continued Dr. Lindley.
Specifically, the executive order:
- Establishes new “Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations” that divide childhood vaccines into three categories: universally recommended, recommended for certain high-risk groups, and available through shared clinical decision-making.
- Moves federal vaccine policy beyond reliance on the traditional CDC/ACIP process, directing federal agencies to advance the new recommendations to the fullest extent allowed by law.
- Calls for measles, mumps and rubella vaccines to be offered as separate single-disease shots once those products become available in the United States, while preserving access to combination vaccines.
- Directs that childhood vaccines be administered at separate medical visits whenever feasible, rather than routinely combining multiple vaccinations in a single visit.
- Launches a new review of the timing and sequencing of childhood vaccines, directing HHS to evaluate whether the federal childhood vaccine schedule should be adjusted based on updated scientific evidence.
- Orders research into alternatives to aluminum-based vaccine adjuvants, including comparative safety and effectiveness studies.
- Expands ongoing vaccine safety review and monitoring, including continuous assessment of vaccine risks and benefits using both U.S. and international data.
- Calls for greater transparency and additional research into childhood vaccine safety.
- Makes parental choice an explicit federal policy priority, stating that federal programs and funding should support maximum parental choice over childhood vaccination consistent with federal law.
- Encourages states to reconsider school vaccine mandates in light of the new recommendations, scientific assessment, and practices in peer developed countries.
- Directs the Department of Justice to support appropriate legal challenges to state vaccine laws that may conflict with federal protections involving parental authority, religious freedom, disability accommodations, or equal protection.
- Requires HHS to present an implementation plan within 90 days through the HHS Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines.
The Independent Medical Alliance has been on the forefront of the fight to reform the childhood vaccine schedule.
