U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order directing federal health agencies to reduce the recommended childhood vaccination schedule from 17 vaccines to 11 core immunizations, a move the White House says is intended to give parents greater flexibility and choice in how their children receive routine shots.

The order is part of the administration’s “Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations” initiative. Trump said the revised schedule would continue to provide strong protection for children while bringing the United States closer to some other developed countries that recommend fewer childhood vaccinations.

A key provision of the order calls for a review of combination vaccines, including the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. Federal agencies have been instructed to examine whether the three vaccines could be offered as separate injections administered during different medical visits, rather than as the standard combined MMR shot currently used across the United States.

The measure advances a long-standing priority of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has repeatedly questioned aspects of U.S. vaccine policy and has publicly argued that vaccines may be linked to autism.

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