Washington, 6 December (dpa/MIA) - US President Donald Trump ordered Friday a review of US childhood vaccination recommendations, directing health officials to compare them with those of other developed countries and adjust them if needed.

He instructed Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to carry out the review.

If "superior" approaches were identified, the US recommendations should be updated accordingly, the memorandum released by the White House said.

In the memorandum, Trump noted that as of January 2025, "the United States recommended vaccinating all children for 18 diseases," a number that makes the country "a high outlier in the number of vaccinations recommended for all children."

By contrast, he said, "peer, developed countries recommend fewer childhood vaccinations - Denmark recommends vaccinations for just 10 diseases with serious morbidity or mortality risks; Japan recommends vaccinations for 14 diseases; and Germany recommends vaccinations for 15 diseases."

The memorandum added that "other current United States childhood vaccine recommendations also depart from policies in the majority of developed countries," although it was initially unclear what exactly was meant by this.

US panel changes vaccine recommendation for newborns

Ealier Friday, health officials in the US voted to change decade-old recommendations that babies should receive a hepatitis B shot immediately after birth.

Trump called the move a "very good decision" on his platform Truth Social.

A vaccine advisory committee of the CDC recommended that women who have tested negative for hepatitis B should be able to decide whether their baby should receive the shot at birth, after consulting with a doctor, according to broadcaster NBC.

The panel suggested waiting until the child is at least two months old before administering the first dose.

The recommendation still has to be officially adopted by the director of the CDC, considered a formality under Kennedy.

West Coast states push back

California Governor Gavin Newsom sharply criticized the CDC panel's decision on the hepatitis B vaccine, citing a joint statement by several states.

California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii accused the advisory group of presenting "no credible evidence" to justify the change.

They recommended that newborns continue to receive the vaccine within the first 24 hours of life and stressed that follow-up doses are essential to protect infants and young children.

"Universal hepatitis B vaccinations at birth save lives, and walking away from this science is reckless," said Newsom, a Democrat and fierce Trump critic.

"The Trump administration's ideological politics continue to drive increasingly high costs – for parents, for newborns, and for our entire public-health system," he added.

While the CDC issues the national immunization schedule, US states can decide whether, and to what extent, they follow the federal recommendations.