Trump’s False Claims About US Childhood Vaccine Schedule Draw Criticism from Experts

President Donald Trump recently made false assertions about the American childhood vaccine schedule, claiming it has “long required 72 ‘jabs’ for perfectly healthy babies,” which he said is “far more than any other Country in the World.” Health experts and fact-checkers have quickly disputed these claims, pointing out significant inaccuracies in both the numbers cited and the characterization of the U.S. vaccine recommendations.

In a December 5 memo, Trump directed the CDC director to “review best practices from peer, developed countries” and consider updating the childhood vaccine schedule to align with nations that administer fewer vaccinations. Multiple news outlets reported that the Department of Health and Human Services may be considering modifying the U.S. schedule to match or nearly match Denmark’s, which recommends vaccination against an unusually low number of diseases.

The reality, experts say, is far different from Trump’s characterization. By age 2, American children are routinely recommended to receive around 30 vaccine doses protecting against 15 diseases. Many of these are administered in combination vaccines, reducing the actual number of shots given. The total through age 18 could theoretically reach the 70s, but only if counting annual flu shots and COVID-19 vaccines for every single year.

“Getting to an exact number is difficult, given the flexibility in how vaccine doses are administered, but by any measure, any number that reaches the 50s or 60s, let alone 70s, invariably includes annual influenza vaccines and COVID-19 vaccines from birth through age 18,” explained Jason Schwartz, a professor at the Yale School of Public Health with expertise in vaccine policy.

It’s also important to note that the CDC’s recommendations are not federal mandates. Vaccine requirements for school or daycare attendance are set by individual states, and exemptions are available. Trump’s characterization of the schedule as something that “requires” children to receive vaccines is therefore misleading.

Dr. Tracy Beth Høeg, the new chief of the FDA’s drug division, made similar claims during a CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meeting on December 5, stating the U.S. was “really an international outlier in giving 72 doses of vaccines.” However, experts note that her counting methods inflated U.S. numbers while minimizing those of other nations.

Comparing international vaccine schedules reveals more similarities than differences among developed nations. The U.S. had universal recommendations targeting 17 diseases in childhood and adolescence before recent changes, just slightly above the median of 14 among the 31 nations that are both OECD members and classified as “advanced economies” by the IMF.

“The U.S. has a robust set of vaccine recommendations, and that reflects the priority on using the tools that are available to prevent illness and death, particularly in children, but the differences between the U.S. and peer countries have been overstated,” Schwartz noted. “The real outlier in this conversation appears to be Denmark.”

Denmark is one of just three advanced economy nations that doesn’t universally recommend the hepatitis B vaccine and is in the minority in not recommending vaccines against rotavirus, meningococcal disease, or chickenpox.

Pediatric infectious disease specialists emphasize that the addition of vaccines to the U.S. schedule over time has been done through evidence-based processes with the goal of protecting children against more diseases. “More vaccines is actually a good thing,” said Dr. Sean O’Leary, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist at the University of Colorado Anschutz and chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases.

Countries differ in their vaccine recommendations based on various factors, including disease prevalence, health care system structure, availability of specific vaccines, timing of routine health visits, and cost-effectiveness analyses. Nations with universal healthcare systems like Denmark may be able to implement risk-based approaches more effectively than the U.S.

“What we know, at least in the U.S., is that risk-based approaches don’t work,” O’Leary explained. “That’s been shown over and over again.” These approaches might function better in countries with universal health care systems and comprehensive electronic health records.

Anders Hviid from Denmark’s Statens Serum Institut emphasized this point: “Every country is different, and every country’s national responsible authorities must make their own decisions based on a careful evaluation of national epidemiology, cost, logistics, ethics etc.”

Ironically, while Trump criticized U.S. vaccine requirements, many European countries have instituted stronger national vaccine mandates in recent years. For example, Germany passed a national measles vaccine requirement in 2020, and since 2018, France has required childhood vaccination against 11 diseases.

These developments underscore how Trump’s characterization of the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule misrepresents both domestic policy and international comparisons, according to experts in the field.