President Donald Trump, in social media posts about changes to U.S. childhood vaccination recommendations, shared a graphic and statement implying children would no longer need 72 “jabs,” an Associated Press fact check reported. The AP said Trump’s posts spread confusion by overstating what the U.S. required for children under the federal guidance.
The fact check said Trump wrote that “America will no longer require 72 ‘jabs’” and paired that claim with a misleading graphic comparing the U.S. to a “European country” that administered 11 “injections.” AP said the graphic and the 72-jabs framing were inconsistent with how vaccination schedules work in the U.S.
AP reported that Trump’s administration on Monday took what it described as an unprecedented step of cutting the number of vaccines the government had long routinely recommended for all children. On that list, AP said, were vaccines against 11 diseases, while vaccines that had previously been broadly recommended were instead categorized for at-risk children or described as available through “shared decision-making” with a doctor.
The AP said leading medical groups were sticking with prior vaccine recommendations, saying there was no new science to justify changing them. The groups also worried that conflicting advice would leave more children vulnerable to preventable illness or death.
AP’s fact focus also detailed how the number of “injections” over childhood depends on scheduling choices and practical factors. It said that a year ago, the government’s childhood vaccination schedule recommended routine protection against 18 diseases, with doses spread across different ages based on scientific research about disease risk and vaccine protection.
The AP said the total number of separate injections from birth to age 18 varied depending on factors including the brand used, whether combination shots were available, and the child’s starting age. It said that unless you counted once-a-year flu vaccines (including those given as a nasal spray) or COVID-19 shots, the number of injections was closer to three dozen.
The fact check said that figure would drop to about 23 injections if children received only the vaccines recommended-for-all on the administration’s new schedule. AP said those recommended-for-all vaccinations included vaccines against diseases such as measles, whooping cough, polio, chickenpox and HPV.
AP said, contrary to Trump’s claim, 72 injections were never “required,” explaining that families could opt out. The fact check noted that states do require children to get certain vaccines before enrolling in school, but that states’ lists were narrower than the prior U.S. vaccine schedule and that many states offer different types of exemptions.