STATEMENT: Maine Healthcare Associations Warn August 10th Executive Order Will Lead To Barriers to Routine Childhood Immunization
August 11, 2026
STATEMENT: Maine Healthcare Associations Warn August 10th Executive Order Will Lead To Barriers to Routine Childhood Immunization
AUGUSTA – On August 10th, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to advance sweeping changes to childhood vaccine recommendations. The order calls for separating the combined measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine and, “to the maximum extent feasible,” administering childhood immunizations at separate medical visits, despite extensive evidence supporting the safety and effectiveness of combination vaccines and administering multiple vaccines during one visit. It also moves several vaccines away from universal recommendations and directs the Attorney General to take legal action against States whose childhood vaccination laws do not provide non-medical exemptions. All of this will create confusion, greater disparities in access, delayed protection, and more cases of preventable illness.
The Maine Medical Association, joined by the Maine Academy of Family Physicians, Maine Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Maine Academy of Physician Associates, the Maine Nurse Practitioner Association, Maine Osteopathic Association, and Maine Public Health Association, strongly opposes changes that depart from established scientific evidence, and we will work with the State of Maine to ensure pediatric patients remain protected against preventable diseases.
“Unfortunately, the administration continues putting personal beliefs and politics ahead of the health and well-being of children. Vaccines are among the best-studied medical treatments. They are safe and effective at preventing illness and death. The rise of infectious diseases, such as measles cases reaching a 35-year high, is a result of increased vaccine hesitancy. This executive order will only exacerbate this burgeoning crisis and lead to more harm to children.” Maine Medical Association President James W. Jarvis, MD, continues, “We will continue to work with Maine families to ensure their voices are heard, that vaccine recommendations remain guided by science, and that our state law, which appropriately limits exemptions from vaccination requirements to those that are medically necessary, is vigorously defended.”
“As a physician associate and a mom to a six-week-old, I want my baby’s vaccines to be guided by evidence, science, and trusted medical professionals,” said Kathleen Moneghan, DHA, MPAS, PA-C, President of the Maine Academy of Physician Associates. “Separating vaccines and requiring additional appointments could create even more barriers for families—especially those in rural communities where access to pediatric care can already be limited. Our children deserve policies that make protecting them from preventable diseases easier, not harder.”
“Once again, we are in a place where the administration appears to try to control how biology works by executive order. It has always been possible to work with clinicians to tailor vaccine schedules if families feel strongly. The general guidance in existence prior to 2024 is designed to make it as easy and convenient as possible to protect our children from suffering illnesses many of us have never seen, while maximizing protection based on extensive clinical trials for both efficacy and safety. Forcing patients who are already struggling with access to care to seek more visits, and navigate more complex regimens achieves nothing but more children sickening from preventable disease." stated Kathryn Brandt, DO, MS, MEdL President of the Maine Osteopathic Association.
“This latest executive order follows a familiar pattern from this administration—issuing public health guidance based on personal belief, not science and thoughtful deliberation,” said Rebecca Boulos, Executive Director of the Maine Public Health Association. “The laissez-faire approach to vaccination by this administration is continuing to erode trust in public health and threatens the health of children, immunocompromised patients, and our national security.”
For scientific, evidence-based vaccine recommendations, we direct interested groups to the Vaccine Schedule of the American Academy of Pediatrics, endorsed by leading national medical and health care organizations.
Brendan Prast, MD, co-chair of the Maine Academy of Family Physicians Advocacy Committee, notes, “As a family physician, caring for patients of all ages, I know how safe and effective these vaccines are and advise against any change to the vaccine schedule. Changing recommendations, whether through an executive order or other misguided federal policy, threatens the health and safety of all Mainers.”
"This executive order further erodes public confidence in evidence-based public health recommendations and in the healthcare professionals who rely on them to guide patient care. Vaccine policy should be driven by science, rigorous research, and established public health processes, not opinion. Actions that undermine trust in proven preventive healthcare measures may have lasting and detrimental consequences for the health and well-being of our nation's children," concludes Lori Towne, MSN, FNP-BC, President of the Maine Nurse Practitioner Association.
Our Associations encourage families to continue speaking with their trusted clinicians about the vaccines that will best protect their children.
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