Administration’s executive order risks health and quality of life of Americans most vulnerable to infections

This statement is made on behalf of the Immunocompromised Collaborative.

On August 10, 2026, the administration issued an executive order calling for extensive changes to the childhood vaccination schedule. This order is an alarming step backward for the health and wellbeing of Americans of all ages. However, the risk to health and quality of life disproportionately falls on people who are immunocompromised or cannot be safely vaccinated. More than 72 million Americans, or 1 in 5 individuals, fall into this category, including:

• Fourteen million people 64 years of age or younger who are battling cancer, have autoimmune or chronic kidney diseases, are taking immune suppressing medications, have a primary immunodeficiency, or whose immune systems are otherwise weakened.
• All 58 million people 65 years of age or older, when the immune system naturally becomes weaker with age.
• People of all ages who are allergic to vaccine ingredients or cannot safely receive vaccines for other medical reasons.
• Babies who are too young to be vaccinated.

At a time when the country is experiencing the highest number of measles cases in 35 years, as well as a marked increase in the number of kindergarten students who are already under vaccinated, this order is not just misguided, it is dangerous. It calls for children to be vaccinated against just 11 infectious diseases, rather than the 17 recommended by leading medical organizations. The order also calls for the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine to be separated into three single-disease vaccines and for healthcare providers to give only one vaccine dose to a child per medical appointment. No new data informs these changes. There is no scientific justification for them.

This executive order will make it more confusing, difficult, and expensive for Americans to access life-saving vaccinations. Vaccination rates will drop again, further weakening community defenses against deadly germs and increases everyone’s exposure to them. The inevitable result will be rising cases of vaccine-preventable diseases.

Because people who are immunocompromised have immune systems that do not adequately protect them, they are already the segment of Americans most vulnerable to severe outcomes and death from infectious diseases. Compounding their vulnerability, many people who are immunocompromised also cannot choose to protect themselves—certain vaccines may not be safe for them or they fail to mount a protective response to vaccines. Instead, the best protection for people who are immunocompromised or who cannot be safely vaccinated is to never come in contact with infectious diseases in the first place. To protect themselves, these people will have to isolate from their communities, reestablishing the COVID-era precautions we know had a significant impact on quality of life.

People who are immunocompromised or cannot safely receive vaccines deserve to be able to move within their communities, including working in person and attending public school, without fearing for their lives. We urge the administration to consider the rights of all people, including those who are immunocompromised or cannot be safely vaccinated, and rescind this dangerous executive order. The consequences of increased incidence of vaccine-preventable diseases fall on those who are least able to protect themselves—your neighbor battling cancer, your elderly family member, your friend’s newborn baby.