New Mexico officials will keep existing childhood vaccine guidelines in place, despite President Donald Trump’s executive order Monday that calls for administering fewer immunizations to American children and spacing out doses of the measles, mumps and rubella — or MMR — vaccine into three single-disease shots.
“In New Mexico, nothing is changing. … Our plan here is stay the course and continue to offer the full array of childhood vaccines,” said Dr. Miranda Durham, chief medical officer for the New Mexico Department of Health.
Under the state’s guidance, both Medicaid and private insurers will still have to cover the childhood immunizations recommended by the New Mexico Department of Health. Vaccination requirements for public school attendance during the 2026-27 school year will stay the same, as well as existing processes for religious and medical exemptions.
Trump’s executive order is the latest in a series of vaccine policy changes from the federal government this year. New Mexico is one of several states challenging the Trump administration’s overhaul in January of the federal childhood immunization schedule, which stripped universal recommendations for immunizations against the flu, COVID-19, hepatitis A and B, rotavirus, some forms of meningitis and respiratory syncytial virus, known as RSV.
The state has repeatedly broken with Trump administration on vaccine guidance, continuing to recommend vaccination against those diseases for all children.
“No science has changed to warrant all these changes on the federal level,” Durham said.
Trump in the executive order touted the new recommendations — which are consistent with the guidance his administration issued in January — as based on “gold standard” science and prompted in part by concerns over a link between vaccines and autism, a claim repeatedly and resoundingly debunked by scientific studies.
Public health officials lambasted the executive order as likely to sow further doubt and distrust in vaccines. Dr. Andrew Racine, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, called the move “not only disheartening but dangerous.”
“There is no new evidence to justify significant changes to childhood immunization guidance,” Racine said in a statement. “Dozens of studies involving millions of people show there is no link between vaccines and autism, and yet federal leaders continue to promote this outdated, disproven idea to scare families.”
Trump’s executive order recommends all children be vaccinated against 11 diseases, including measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Haemophilus influenzae type B, pneumococcal disease, HPV and chickenpox.
However, it leaves vaccination against hepatitis A and B, rotavirus, meningococcal disease, influenza and COVID-19 up to “shared clinical decision-making.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics will continue to recommend all 18 diseases included in its vaccine schedule, and New Mexico will continue to follow the academy’s advice, Durham said.
The executive order also notes the MMR vaccine should be administered in three separate shots during different doctor’s visits “once such products are domestically available,” despite a lack of evidence that the combo immunization is dangerous.
Right now, following that advice is not possible, Durham said: Individual shots against measles, mumps and rubella aren’t even available in the U.S. Besides, she added, it’s much more convenient for a parent to take their child to the doctor twice — for two doses of the MMR vaccine — than six times.
That point of confusion, combined with the constant changes to vaccine guidance over the past, creates a “tough environment” for families, Durham said.
“It’s unfortunate. It takes something that is relatively simple and makes it complicated and kind makes it feel like it’s on shifting ground,” she said. “And it’s unfortunate because really nothing has changed.”
For White Rock resident Richard Skolnik, vaccine-preventable diseases like measles and polio are far from an abstract concept.
The 76-year-old grew up with classmates who wore braces to support leg muscles weakened or paralyzed by polio. During his childhood, nearly every child got measles — some of them developing severe complications from the disease. His mother and her friends voiced concerns about catching rubella while pregnant, since the disease can lead to miscarriage or serious birth defects.
After a 50-year career in global health — and literally writing the book Global Health 101 — Skolnik is now the New Mexico lead for Grandparents for Vaccines, a nationwide organization dedicated to promoting childhood immunization through vaccine success stories.
He’s worried about the effects the Trump administration’s policies will have on New Mexico children.
“The changes have no basis in evidence or science,” Skolnik said. “Delaying vaccines leaves children unprotected for longer, and this new approach will lead to more illness, more disability, more deaths and higher costs for New Mexican families.”
