NJ keeps childhood vaccine rules intact despite Trump executive order
⚠️ New Jersey's childhood vaccine requirements remain unchanged after Trump's executive order.
➡️ New Jersey broke from CDC guidance earlier in 2026, letting state health officials independently set policy.
💉Health collaborative slams ‘undermining’ public confidence in MMR vaccine amid measles outbreaks
TRENTON - New Jersey's childhood vaccine requirements remain unchanged, despite another federal move to rollback several globally recommended immunizations.
Months after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention amended its vaccine recommendations, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Aug. 10, covering much of the same ground.
Since last winter, public health experts have warned that a rollback from 17 to 11 widely recommended vaccines could lead to preventable hospitalizations and deaths.
Read More: Despite CDC rollback, NJ keeps childhood vaccine guidance intact
Trump order calls for separate measles, mumps and rubella shots
One new addition under Trump’s executive order is a “Gold Standard” idea that the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine - combined as MMR for patients since the 1970s — should now be split into three separate shots for children.
In January, outgoing Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation aligning health insurance coverage requirements with the updated Department of Health immunization guidance.
The first state code updates in 25 years on communicable diseases were then adopted in the New Jersey Register.
Under that law, the state health department is not required to mirror federal guidance, instead basing state requirements on other professional health care bodies.
Read More: Gov. Murphy signs law giving NJ control over vaccination rules
“Families deserve clear, science-based guidance, not confusion. The evidence behind childhood vaccines is clear, it has not changed, and New Jersey will continue to make sure every family can access the vaccines that keep their children safe," state Health Commissioner Dr. Raynard E. Washington said in a written statement on Tuesday.
He also said that protecting children from preventable disease is “one of the most fundamental responsibilities we hold.”
“Vaccines remain among the safest and most effective tools we have, and the claim that they cause autism has been studied exhaustively and disproven. Reviving it does not help families; it draws attention away from the work of keeping children healthy,” the state Department of Health also said Tuesday.
The department said it will use “its full authority to keep vaccines accessible across New Jersey.”
New Jersey health officials push back as U.S. measles cases rise
Residents can find New Jersey's childcare, preschool, K-12, and higher education immunization requirements, along with help finding low- or no-cost vaccines, on the state health department website.
For the past year, the state has worked to minimize public misinformation through the Northeast Public Health Collaborative and the Governors Public Health Alliance.
The Northeast Public Health Collaborative is a voluntary coalition of 16 public health agencies working together to coordinate, enhance capacity and protect evidence-based public health.
Among its member health departments are New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, New York City and Boston.
“Undermining confidence in the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine — used for over five decades — during the largest measles outbreak in decades will lead to additional measles cases and, potentially, deaths. Immunizations save lives, and parents should be able to trust that the health recommendations they receive are based on science,” according to the Northeast Public Health Collaborative on Tuesday.
The collaborative “does not necessarily speak on behalf of every member agency or state,” the written statement added, as each member retains its own independent positions and authorities.
“This risk is real: The United States is experiencing a 35-year high for measles cases as federal officials continue to elevate misleading and disproven information about vaccines, inserting unnecessary fear and confusion into families’ decision making,” according to a statement from American Academy of Pediatrics President Dr. Andrew Racine, as shared to Instagram.
“And we are seeing the results. More than a quarter of a million children started kindergarten last year without protection from the MMR vaccine,” Racine added.
Measles surge and federal vaccine shifts fuel urgency
Measles cases have soared nationally over the past two years to the highest levels reported since 1992.
Under previous vaccine efforts, the disease was deemed eliminated in the U.S. in 2000.
As of Aug. 13, there were 2,566 confirmed measles cases reported nationwide so far this year, already passing the total of 2,289 confirmed cases for the entire year of 2025.
Of known measles cases, roughly half of the patients were ages 5-19 years, according to the CDC, and 93% were unvaccinated or “vaccination status unknown.”
Just one case has been confirmed in New Jersey this year so far, compared with 12 cases in 2025.
Back in January, federal officials led by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said they were modeling immunization guidelines on standards used in “20 peer, developed nations,” while name-checking only Denmark in an online press release in January — which as of Aug. 18, was deleted from the White House website.
Denmark's population is around six million, compared to New Jersey’s nine million residents — and less than 2% of the U.S. population of about 340 million.
“This decision protects children, respects families, and rebuilds trust in public health,” Kennedy previously said, adding the change would strengthen transparency and informed consent.
“All vaccines currently recommended by CDC will remain covered by insurance without cost sharing. No family will lose access,” Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said in the same previous press release, which is now deleted.
New Jersey remains among 29 states and Washington D.C. that allow for guardians to sign off on religious exemption requests for a child’s vaccine requirements.
Kennedy now has 90 days to present plans to offer options to administer core childhood vaccines, starting with MMR, as “single vaccines rather than combination products/doses.”
That would be done in part “by working with the private sector and other countries as appropriate,” while still ensuring that families seeking to continue with combination vaccines still are guaranteed “continued availability” of those shots, the order added.
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