Documents › Executive orders › 14420
Executive Order 14420
Delivering Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations for Americans
Signed August 10, 2026, printed at 91 FR 53173. 4 sections of substance, 1,185 words.
This order is about child vaccine advice. It sets out three groups of shots. It calls the new list the gold standard.
Sec. 1. Purpose and Policy
Pursuant to the Presidential Memorandum of December 5, 2025 (Aligning United States Core Childhood Vaccine Recommendations with Best Practices from Peer, Developed Countries), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) completed a scientific assessment, which identified a set of consensus vaccines that are consistently recommended in all peer countries and found that the United States currently recommends more childhood vaccines than any peer nation, including more than twice as many vaccine doses as some European nations (scientific assessment). The scientific assessment also found that, instead of implementing vaccination mandates, most peer nations maintain high childhood vaccination rates through public trust and education. In the United States, by contrast, individual States set mandatory vaccination requirements that children must meet to attend school. Executive Order
Pursuant to the Presidential Memorandum of December 5, 2025 (Aligning United States Core Childhood Vaccine Recommendations with Best Practices from Peer, Developed Countries), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) completed a scientific assessment, which identified a set of consensus vaccines that are consistently recommended in all peer countries and found that the United States currently recommends more childhood vaccines than any peer nation, including more than twice as many vaccine doses as some European nations (scientific assessment). The scientific assessment also found that, instead of implementing vaccination mandates, most peer nations maintain high childhood vaccination rates through public trust and education. In the United States, by contrast, individual States set mandatory vaccination requirements that children must meet to attend school. Executive Order
This recalls a December 2025 memo. The health department then ran a study. It compared shot schedules here with other rich countries. It found a common core set of shots. It found this country recommends more than any peer. Some European counts are half as many. It said most peers rely on trust, not mandates. States here set school rules.
Sec. 2. Recommendations for Childhood and Adolescent Vaccines
(a) Based on consultation with my advisors and review of available scientific evidence, it is hereby declared that the United States recognizes Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations informed by the three distinct categories of childhood immunization recommendations identified in the scientific assessment, as specified below: (i) immunizations recommended for all children: measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Haemophilus influenzae type B, pneumococcal disease, human papillomavirus, and varicella; (ii) immunizations recommended for certain high-risk groups or populations: respiratory syncytial virus monoclonal antibodies, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, meningococcal B, meningococcal ACWY, and dengue; and (iii) immunizations based on shared clinical decision-making: hepatitis A, hepatitis B, rotavirus, meningococcal disease, influenza, and COVID-19. [[Page
(a) Based on consultation with my advisors and review of available scientific evidence, it is hereby declared that the United States recognizes Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations informed by the three distinct categories of childhood immunization recommendations identified in the scientific assessment, as specified below: (i) immunizations recommended for all children: measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Haemophilus influenzae type B, pneumococcal disease, human papillomavirus, and varicella; (ii) immunizations recommended for certain high-risk groups or populations: respiratory syncytial virus monoclonal antibodies, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, meningococcal B, meningococcal ACWY, and dengue; and (iii) immunizations based on shared clinical decision-making: hepatitis A, hepatitis B, rotavirus, meningococcal disease, influenza, and COVID-19. [[Page
This sets a new standard. Three groups of shots are named. The first is for all children. Measles, mumps and rubella are in it. So are diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough. So are polio and chickenpox. The second is for high risk groups only. Hepatitis A and B are in it. The third is left to doctor and parent. Flu is in that group.
Sec. 3. Improving Vaccine Research and Options for American Parents
The Secretary of HHS, through the HHS Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines, shall, within 90 days of the date of this order, present plans to the President through the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy to, to the extent appropriate and consistent with applicable law: (a) offer options to administer core childhood vaccines, starting with MMR, as single vaccines rather than combination products/doses, including by working with the private sector and other countries as appropriate, while guaranteeing continued availability of combination vaccines and those vaccines recommended for shared clinical decision-making; (b) assess the ideal timing and sequencing of all core childhood vaccines and adjust the Federal childhood and adolescent vaccine schedule as appropriate based on gold-standard science; (c) develop additional alternative adjuvants to aluminum and conduct comparative
The Secretary of HHS, through the HHS Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines, shall, within 90 days of the date of this order, present plans to the President through the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy to, to the extent appropriate and consistent with applicable law: (a) offer options to administer core childhood vaccines, starting with MMR, as single vaccines rather than combination products/doses, including by working with the private sector and other countries as appropriate, while guaranteeing continued availability of combination vaccines and those vaccines recommended for shared clinical decision-making; (b) assess the ideal timing and sequencing of all core childhood vaccines and adjust the Federal childhood and adolescent vaccine schedule as appropriate based on gold-standard science; (c) develop additional alternative adjuvants to aluminum and conduct comparative
This covers research. A health task force has 90 days. Plans go to the President through a policy aide. Core shots should be offered one at a time. The measles shot comes first. Combined shots must stay available. It must study the best timing for each shot. The schedule may then change. It must seek alternatives to aluminum boosters.
Sec. 4. Maximizing Parental Choice over Childhood Vaccines
(a) The Attorney General shall take appropriate measures to further meritorious legal actions challenging State laws that conflict with States' constitutional and Federal statutory obligations related to parental authority, religious freedom, disability accommodations, and equal protection under the law, including, to the extent applicable under Federal law, States' obligations to provide religious and medical exemptions from childhood and adolescent immunization requirements. (b) The Departments of Justice, Education, and HHS shall take appropriate action to ensure that their contractors and grantees, including States and localities, are compliant with their constitutional and Federal statutory obligations related to parental authority, religious freedom, disability accommodations, and equal protection under the law, including, to the extent applicable under Federal law, their
(a) The Attorney General shall take appropriate measures to further meritorious legal actions challenging State laws that conflict with States' constitutional and Federal statutory obligations related to parental authority, religious freedom, disability accommodations, and equal protection under the law, including, to the extent applicable under Federal law, States' obligations to provide religious and medical exemptions from childhood and adolescent immunization requirements. (b) The Departments of Justice, Education, and HHS shall take appropriate action to ensure that their contractors and grantees, including States and localities, are compliant with their constitutional and Federal statutory obligations related to parental authority, religious freedom, disability accommodations, and equal protection under the law, including, to the extent applicable under Federal law, their
This targets state rules. Justice must back suits against certain state laws. The claim is that they breach federal duties. Parental authority is named. So is religious freedom. So is fair treatment under law. Exemptions from school shot rules are the target. Three departments must also check their own grantees. States and towns count.
Sec. 5. General Provisions
Every order carries this. It is not what the order does.
(a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: (i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or (ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations. [[Page 53175]] (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. (d) The costs for publication of this order shall be borne by the Department of Health and Human Services. <GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT> (Presidential Sig.) THE WHITE
(a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: (i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or (ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations. [[Page 53175]] (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. (d) The costs for publication of this order shall be borne by the Department of Health and Human Services. <GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT> (Presidential Sig.) THE WHITE
This is the closing clause that nearly every order carries. It says the order does not change what the law already allows. It also says no one can sue to enforce it.
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