President Trump signed a new Executive Order today, moving federal vaccine policy toward greater parental choice, informed consent, vaccine safety, and flexibility. That’s progress we welcome.
But the EO does not change the Texas laws that allow certain Texans to be subjected to vaccine mandates, nor does it eliminate state-level vaccine requirements.
Federal policy can move in the right direction, but Texas law still needs to change. Until every Texan has the freedom to make informed medical decisions without facing discrimination or losing access to education and employment, we have work to do.
Here’s what the EO actually does and does not do, and why we must keep fighting for medical freedom in Texas:
- Creates a new federal “Gold Standard” vaccine framework with three categories: recommended for all children, recommended for certain high-risk groups, and recommended through shared clinical decision-making.
- Identifies 11 vaccines as recommended for all children and moves several others into high-risk or shared-decision categories.
- Calls for MMR to eventually be offered as three separate vaccines as well as one combination product, once single-disease products are domestically available, while maintaining access to combination vaccines.
- Directs HHS to reassess vaccine timing and sequencing and adjust the federal childhood/adolescent schedule accordingly.
- Directs research into alternatives to aluminum adjuvants and ongoing evaluation of vaccine safety and risk-benefit profiles.
- Requires HHS to improve vaccine safety monitoring, transparency, and research, with plans due to the President within 90 days.
- Encourages states to review vaccine laws, including school-entry requirements, and consider aligning them with the new federal recommendations.
- Does not eliminate state vaccine mandates or create a new enforceable right to an exemption.
