International health authorities have launched a staunch defence of childhood immunisation, following a recent upheaval in the US that could significantly curb vaccine recommendations for the age group.
As per an executive order (EO) signed by President Donald Trump earlier this week, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been directed to recommend that children receive vaccines providing protection against 11 diseases, a drop from the 18 diseases currently suggested by the health agency. The EO also recommended that the combined MMR vaccine, a jab that has been used for around half a century, be separated into three single-disease shots.
The change drew immediate backlash from medical bodies in the US, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID). Now, international agencies have joined the call to affirm the safety and effectiveness of vaccinations for children.
World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the agency was “concerned” about the changes in the US to the immunisation schedule.
“Recent changes to US immunisation policy are not aligned with decades of evidence that show when children are most vulnerable to disease, when vaccines provide the strongest protection, how many doses are needed, and which vaccines can be given together safely,” Ghebreyesus said.
The White House said it based the overhaul on an assessment by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that found the country recommended more childhood vaccines than any peer nation. The original number of 18 diseases on the US immunisation schedule was in line with the UK.
Dr Alison Cave, Chief Safety Officer at the UK’s Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), said: “Vaccination remains one of the most effective and safest ways to protect against serious and potentially life-threatening diseases, supported by decades of scientific evidence in the UK and internationally.”
Autism claims “utterly disgraceful”
The US vaccine landscape has been one characterised by turbulence since the Trump administration began its second term. An overhaul to the CDC schedule earlier this year already faced legal backlash, with a federal judge eventually blocking several of the changes.
Some of the US government’s focus on vaccines has been accelerated by concerns from US health secretary Robert F Kennedy (RFK) Jr that the jabs can cause autism. The alleged connection between vaccines and autism, due to a forged research paper, has long been debunked by a large body of high-quality research.
Ghebreyesus added: “That evidence is reviewed continuously as new data emerge from across the globe. The current evidence is unequivocal: vaccines - including the MMR vaccine - are safe and do not cause autism.
“Vaccination policy should be guided by rigorous, independent and transparent review of the best available science, not by political influence.”
In November 2025, the CDC updated its website to state that there could be a link between autism and vaccines. The decision to publicly state a correlation between autism and vaccines undermined the agency’s longtime position to the contrary.
The MHRA highlighted the wide-reaching evidence that shows no correlation to autism.
Cave commented: “Multiple large, well-conducted studies involving millions of children worldwide have consistently demonstrated that there is no evidence that vaccines cause autism in children.”
Mel Merritt, head of policy and influencing at National Autistic Society, a UK charity, said: “Let’s be clear - the MMR vaccine is safe. It’s utterly disgraceful that yet again we must correct dangerous misinformation from President Donald Trump. It’s been proven for decades that vaccines are safe and a huge amount of new research has also shown there is no link between the MMR vaccine and autism, including new analysis by the WHO.”
In December 2025, the WHO shared new analysis from its global expert committee reaffirming that no causal link exists between vaccines and autism. As part of the analysis, the agency scrutinised 31 primary research studies published over the last 15 years across several countries.
