Let’s Compare the Childhood Immunization to Peer Nations
The latest executive order from Donald Trump doesn’t actually change our immunization schedule, but let's take a look at the immunization schedule from peer nations any way to see what's different.
What happens when you compare the childhood immunization to peer nations?
It is certainly not what the White House and Donald Trump are telling you.
It is especially not true that United States “currently recommends more childhood vaccines than any peer nation.”
Let’s Compare the Childhood Immunization to Peer Nations
And that is something that is very easy to see when you look at the immunization schedules from some of these peer nations…
Let’s start with Poland.
In addition to mandatory vaccines, with their recommended vaccines, kids in Poland get more vaccines than kids in the United States.
How about kids in Greece?
They aren’t getting many more vaccine doses than kids in the United States…
Let’s look at Austria?
In Austria, although they don’t give the hepatitis A vaccine, they recommend all the other vaccines we give in the United States, plus early meningococcal vaccines and a vaccine to protect against Tick-borne Encephalitis.
And they aren’t the only peer country with a similar immunization as the United States…
France is missing a few, notably vaccines hepatitis A and chicken pox, but gives some extras, notably the BCG vaccine to newborns and meningococcal vaccines to infants.
Germany also has a similar immunization to that traditionally used in the United, including that they give children the chickenpox vaccine. They don’t routinely give children hepatitis A, flu, or COVID vaccines, but do give extra meningococcal B vaccines to infants.
And Germany isn’t the only peer country that is giving the chickenpox vaccine to children.
Ireland recently added the chickenpox vaccine and gives extra meningococcal vaccines to infants and toddlers. Older kids get a booster of DTaP and IPV and a second dose of MMR and then HPV, Tdap and MenACWY vaccines during the first year of secondary school.
Free flu vaccines are also available for all children in Ireland.
Now let’s take a look at the calendario vaccinale in Italy…
Are you starting to see a pattern?
Where are all the countries that get half as many vaccine doses as we recommend in the United States as Donald Trump said we should find?
Well, maybe Donald Trump and RFK, Jr are talking about Sweden…
No, that can’t be it, because Trump is wanting to cut the rotavirus vaccine, which is given in Sweden.
And they aren’t talking about Norway…
Or Iceland.
How about Denmark?
While children in Denmark do get fewer vaccines than many other countries, they are still vaccinated and protected against, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, Hib, pneumococcal disease, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, and HPV.
And the flu… Yes, many children in Denmark get a flu vaccine, although it is not on the official immunization schedule.
“On 1 October 2025, the vaccination programme for pregnant women against RSV came into effect with the aim of protecting newborn children against severe RSV disease during the first months of life.”
The season for free RSV vaccination for pregnant women ends on 31 January – the programme will resume on 1 May 2026
And infants also get extra protection against flu, RSV, and pertussis, as pregnant women in Denmark get flu, RSV, and pertussis vaccines.
What else?
Rates of autism aren’t associated with how many vaccines kids get in Nordic countries!
Bottom line - most peer nations have very similar immunization schedules as the United States, with only minor differences.
Fortunately, the latest executive order from Donald Trump doesn’t actually change our immunization schedule!
Parents and pediatricians can and should continue to follow our current immunization schedule and keep their kids protected.