NEW JERSEY — President Donald Trump issued Executive Order 14407 in May, directing federal health agencies to review childhood vaccine recommendations and emphasize parental authority. The order asks agencies to revisit which vaccines are recommended for all children and how those shots are spaced. It aims to align the U.S. with other developed countries regarding vaccine recommendations and to provide families and doctors more flexibility on the timing and sequencing of vaccines.

The executive order specifies that every vaccine on the federal schedule should continue to be covered without out-of-pocket costs. It also includes language addressing the protection of religious freedom and parental authority. The order does not alter mandatory vaccination guidelines for the upcoming school year.

State laws regarding required vaccines for school entry remain in effect unless individual states opt to change them. Neither Executive Order 14407 nor related changes to federal vaccine guidance are anticipated to modify state school-entry vaccine requirements for the upcoming school year.

Most K-12 schools are scheduled to open for the new school year in the coming weeks. States, including New Jersey and others in the Mid-Atlantic region, mandate that students receive certain vaccinations upon reaching kindergarten and 7th grade.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 92–93% of school students had received their core vaccinations for the 2024-25 school year. KFF reported that around 286,000 kindergartners attended school in the 2024–25 school year without documentation of completing the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine series.