Staff Reports
President Trump’s directive to take a hard look at the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule is exactly the kind of common-sense oversight Americans deserve, and CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz has publicly backed this necessary review. For too long unelected bureaucrats at the top of public health agencies have treated the American schedule as sacrosanct; the President’s order forces a comparison with peer nations and brings overdue accountability to the process.
The move follows a recent decision by federal vaccine advisers to revisit the long-standing recommendation that every newborn receive the hepatitis B shot on day one of life, a recommendation many countries do not follow universally. Critics warned that changing longstanding guidance would spark controversy, but conservatives should welcome a transparent reassessment rather than reflexive loyalty to a status quo that may make the United States an outlier.
Dr. Oz has been clear that parents — not bureaucrats — should be central to decisions about their children’s health, and he’s rightly framed the review as a simple, responsible “double-check” comparable to a parent inspecting a car seat. We should trust clinicians and families to weigh risks and benefits, and we should insist on honest data and clear communication from government agencies rather than one-size-fits-all mandates.
If other developed nations safely recommend fewer early-life shots in certain cases, America ought to examine those policies and learn from them instead of reflexively dismissing outside evidence. Skepticism toward entrenched medical orthodoxy isn’t anti-science; it’s the foundation of scientific progress and public trust — especially when decades-old recommendations affect millions of newborns.
Make no mistake: the public-health establishment and much of the legacy press will scream “danger” and try to paint scrutiny as radical. That predictable resistance only underscores why this review matters; transparency and parental authority are antidotes to complacency and opaque decision-making that can erode confidence in vaccines overall.
Americans who love their children and prize liberty should stand behind this careful, evidence-seeking approach led by the President and supported by leaders like Dr. Oz at CMS. Let the experts re-examine the schedule, let the public see the data, and let parents maintain the final say — that’s how free, healthy nations protect their families and keep government accountable.
