The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) wasted no time in 2026 to continue refining its contribution to the Make American Healthy Again (MAHA) movement. HHS—led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr—already scaled back childhood vaccination schedules and released a new dietary guideline, which emphasized a whole-food diet.
"It’s actually okay if federal guidance is changing, if those changes are based on the development of new data.... The problem arises when you start updating your positions based on not very rigorous scientific interpretations of data or cherry-picked data points,” Morgan McSweeney, PhD, social media and health influencer Dr. Noc, said in an interview.
What Is the MAHA Movement?
In February 2025, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14212, which established the MAHA commission. The commission is made up of Kennedy; Vincent Haley, the assistant to the president for domestic policy; Brooke Rollins, the secretary of agriculture; Scott Turner, the secretary of housing and urban development; Linda McMahon, the secretary of education; Douglas Collins, the secretary of veterans affairs; Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; Russell Vought, the director of the office of management and budget; Stephen Miller, the assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff for policy; Kevin Hassett, PhD, the director of the national economic council; Stephen Miran, PhD, the chairman of the council of economic advisers; Michael Kratsios, the director of the office of science and technology policy; Martin Makary, MD, the commissioner of the FDA; and Jayanta Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, the director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).1
As part of the executive order, the commission will take steps that focus on various health aspects in America, such as poor diet, chemical exposures, lack of physical health and chronic stress, and overmedicalization. Further, the initiative focuses on the “Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy,” an additional plan that addresses childhood chronic diseases.2
In September 2025, the White House released its “Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy,” which detailed a new NIH initiative that will focus on chronic diseases through research programs and new approaches in methodologies across chemical exposure, cause of autism, vaccine injuries, food and nutrition, and mental health prescribing. Another part of the executive order details dietary guidelines for the US for 2025 to 2030, which “align with science data and health recommendations in a concise, user-friendly format.”2,3
In January 2026, the White House launched a new nutrition policy titled “Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030,” which is a reset of federal nutrition policy. The new guidelines will inform federal food programs, including school meals, military and veteran meals, and other child and adult nutrition programs. It also emphasizes prioritizing protein, avoiding processed foods and added sugars, further defining healthy fats, and emphasizing whole grains.4
"There’s a lot of commonality...we want to prevent chronic disease in adults and children and lessen that disease burden,” Elizabeth Skoy, PharmD, FAPhA, professor at the Center for Collaboration and Advancement in Pharmacy, North Dakota State University. “But the execution of how some of these things have gone around has caused some mistrust in general in our health care system.”
A Timeline on Immunization Recommendation Changes
Part of the MAHA initiative is to reduce health care cost and continue to improve the health of Americans. One of the greatest focuses for the current administration is the cause of vaccines.
“A lot of it has been based on norms and sort of handshake agreements,” McSweeney said. “Someone could come in and wipe out entire advisory committees of actual experts, replace them with people who share their own opinions, and then overhaul recommendations for the entire country's health care system."
In June 2025, Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended against influenza vaccine containing the preservative thimerosal, with the recommendation including US adults and pregnant women. Thimerosal is a mercury-containing compound that has been used as a preservative in some biological and drug products, especially for packaging of vaccines and multidose vials.5
At the same ACIP meeting, the committee voted 6 to 0 to recommend that all Americans aged 6 months and older receive an annual influenza vaccine. However, throughout the remainder of 2025 and beginning of 2026, ACIP and the CDC have made many changes regarding vaccine schedules, especially for pediatric patients. In September 2025, ACIP officially recommended COVID-19 immunization be evaluated by individual decision-making, which applies to all patients 6 months and older.5,6
"We had some nonevidence-based medicine recommendations that were made...from a group that we’ve always trusted. ACIP was always our gold standard, and then all of a sudden now we have these alternative schedules,” Skoy said.
Further, members also took to a second vote to determine if state and local jurisdictions should require a prescription for the administration of a COVID-19 vaccine, which ultimately failed due to a tie-breaking vote by chair, Martin Kulldorff, PhD. In addition to the COVID-19 recommendations, the members also voted that all pregnant women should get tested for hepatitis B, which would be covered across all insurance programs. ACIP also approved provisions for the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR), and varicella virus, stating that the varicella vaccination should be used as a standalone instead of in combination with MMR.7
Come December 2025, ACIP voted 8 to 3 to remove universal recommendations for all newborns to receive the hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination. Prior to the update, newborns would receive the vaccine before they left the hospital, but with the new vote, HBV vaccination is no longer universally recommended, moving to a shared decision-making model similar to the COVID-19 vaccine.8
In January 2026, HHS announced a vast array of changes to childhood vaccine recommendations, including for meningococcal disease, hepatitis B, and hepatitis A. In addition to COVID-19 being recommended for shared decision-making, influenza and rotavirus vaccination would also be moved to the shared decision-making model. However, respiratory syntactical virus remains unchanged. Human papillomavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and meningococcal are also no longer broadly recommended. Although HHS said that insurers will still cover all of the vaccines, there will still be barriers to access for patients who would like to receive these vaccines.9,10
“[Officials] changing that level of recommendation actually structurally impacts access to medicine for people who are lower income families. So that's a very direct financial harm,” McSweeney said.
Federal Officials Call for Potential Causes of Autism
In a survey from the Anneberg Public Policy Center, approximately 67% of adults in the US reported that they know vaccines, such as MMR, do not cause autism, which decreased significantly from 74% in 2021.11 Vaccines have been studied due to a potential association with autism spectrum disorder, but there has not been an official determination on whether there is causality.12
Besides thimerosal containing mercury, there has been some debate as to whether the preservative could cause neurodevelopmental conditions, including autism. In the same week ACIP decided to no longer recommend vaccine with thimerosal, the CDC reported that there was no connection between thimerosal in vaccines and autism or other neurodevelopmental conditions across over 20 studies. However, it is important to note that there have been a few studies by non-CDC authors that showed an association between thimerosal-containing vaccines and neurodevelopmental disorders, but there were significant methodology limitations.12
Without much warning, the CDC still updated its page regarding autism and vaccines, stating that “The claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism.”13
"People seem to be foggy on what ‘science’ is.... There is a publication or 3 for every single point of view. It is not enough to say that 1 single study—or even a handful of small studies—makes something correct,” Skoy said.
Although the page still includes a subheading that states vaccines do not cause autism, there is a disclaimer at the bottom of the page that the header was not removed due to an agreement with the chair of the US Senate, Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.13
"It'll start to seem like even the experts can't agree on what is true...it's a very small but vocal minority who have unfortunately risen to some places of extreme power who are giving the illusion of disagreement among experts,” McSweeney said.
In addition to vaccines, the Trump administration also called out acetaminophen (Tylenol) as a potential cause to autism, which has generally been considered a safe medication when appropriately taken during pregnancy. There is also no safe alternative to acetaminophen to decrease fever during pregnancy.14
"To think that a pregnant mother would be shamed into not treating her own incredible needs (fever, pain) is not only deeply concerning on a compassionate level, yet clinically concerning as the resultant tachycardia, hypertension, anxiety, stress...can literally be detrimental to both the pregnant mother and child,” Mark Garofoli, PharmD, BCGP, CPE, CTTS, clinical assistant professor at the West Virginia University School of Pharmacy, said.
Social Media’s Impact on Public Health
Social media has transformed from a simple communication tool into the primary landscape for public health discourse, often prioritizing emotional resonance over scientific accuracy.
“Social media is a reality that we have. We have to learn how to work with it versus against it,” Skoy said. “The benefit is that if the right health care information is out there, it's more accessible to patients. Social media has allowed patients to take more responsibility for their own health, just getting constant feeds [and] reminders about their health can be something that's constantly getting put at the thought forefront of their own mind.”
Spread of Health Misinformation on Social Media
The spread of health misinformation on platforms like Instagram and TikTok is driven by specific psychological and algorithmic triggers, according to Morgan McSweeney, PhD, social media and health influencer Dr. Noc:
- Emotional Resonance: Content that is emotionally charged, particularly involving negative emotions or anecdotes, consistently outperforms evidence-based analysis.
- "Rage Bait": content that is more likely to go viral than clinical facts, creating a skewed representation of reality and intended to make consumers angry.
- Repetition: Hearing the same message from multiple influencers can make a claim start to feel true, even subconsciously, even if it lacks an accurate representation of data.
- Unadjusted Data: Influencers often use raw, unadjusted data to suggest correlations—such as a link between vaccines and autism—while ignoring health care-seeking bias, where children who are vaccinated more often are simply more likely to see a doctor and receive a formal diagnosis.
However, a challenge of social media is that it only provides a snapshot of information without really getting into details. For example, someone can pick a data point that supports their claim, but it does not tell the story of the full study.
"The information about your health and about science and medicine that you see on social media is not necessarily the most accurate. It is the loudest. It's what is the most emotionally resonant with people,” McSweeney said.
For health care professionals, social media has turned patient counseling into a space where a provider addresses 1 misinformation topic only for 2 more to pop up. To counter these trends, experts suggest that health institutions must move beyond throwing more facts at the issue, McSweeney said.
"You may hear the same message over time and time again, it starts to feel true, even subconsciously, just because you're hearing it over and over again—but just know you're not getting an accurate representation of the data just because you're seeing it in multiple videos,” McSweeney said.
Medical experts need to step out of the peer-reviewed publication space to engage with their patients in a spot that is engaging for them. One way to do this is by making evidence-based content for social media. Additionally, patients are more likely to trust their local providers who are in their same community, such as their local pharmacist. Providers should show a more personal side to patients to help rebuild trust. Effective communication starts with identifying shared goals, such as wanting children to be healthy and safe, before addressing differences in medical opinion.
"Try to find what it is that you do agree upon…we agree upon that we want our loved ones, our children, whoever it is to be healthy and safe,” Skoy said. “If you can at least start with that...you’re going to get a lot further."
READ MORE: Immunization Resource Center
Are you ready to elevate your pharmacy practice? Sign up today for our free Drug Topics newsletter and get the latest drug information, industry trends, and patient care tips straight to your inbox.
REFERENCES
1. White House. The MAHA Report. 2025. Accessed January 8, 2026. https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/MAHA-Report-The-White-House.pdf
2. White House. Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy Report. 2025. Accessed January 8, 2026. https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-MAHA-Strategy-WH.pdf
3. MAHA commission unveils sweeping strategy to make our children healthy again. News release. USDA. September 9, 2025. Accessed January 8, 2026. https://www.fns.usda.gov/newsroom/usda-0213.25
4. Fact Sheet: Trump administration resets US nutrition policy, puts real food back at the center of health. News release. US Department of Health and Human Services. January 7, 2026. Accessed January 8, 2026. https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/fact-sheet-historic-reset-federal-nutrition-policy.html
5. Gallagher A. ACIP votes against thimerosal vaccines for prevention of influenza. Drug Topics. June 27, 2025. Accessed January 23, 2026. https://www.drugtopics.com/view/acip-votes-against-thimerosal-vaccines-for-prevention-of-influenza
6. ACIP recommendations COVID-19 immunization based on individual decision-making. News release. HHS. September 29, 2025. Accessed January 23, 2026. https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/acip-recommends-covid19-vaccination-individual-decision-making.html
7. Gallagher A. ACIP recommends shared decision-making for COVID-19 vaccination. Drug Topics. September 22, 2025. Accessed January 26, 2026. https://www.drugtopics.com/view/acip-recommends-shared-decision-making-for-covid-19-vaccination
8. Nowosielski B. ACIP vote eliminated universal recommendation for newborn hepatitis B vaccine. Drug Topics. December 5, 2025. Accessed January 26, 2026. https://www.drugtopics.com/view/acip-vote-eliminates-universal-recommendation-for-newborn-hep-b-vaccine
9. Nowosielski B. HHS limits vaccine recommendations for childhood schedules. Drug Topics. January 5, 2026. Accessed January 26, 2026. https://www.drugtopics.com/view/hhs-limiting-vaccine-recommendations-for-childhood-schedules
10. Owermohle S. US overhauls childhood vaccine schedule to recommend fewer shots. CNN. January 5, 2026. Accessed January 26, 2026. https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/05/health/childhood-vaccine-schedule-overhaul
11. Gallagher A. More Americans now believe MMR vaccine causes autism vs 2021. Drug Topics. May 21, 2025. Accessed January 26, 2026. https://www.drugtopics.com/view/more-americans-now-believe-mmr-vaccine-causes-autism-vs-2021
12. Gallagher A. CDC report finds no connection between thimerosal and autism. Drug Topics. June 25, 2025. Accessed January 23, 2026. https://www.drugtopics.com/view/cdc-report-finds-no-connection-between-thimerosal-and-autism
13. Gallagher A. CDC updates web page––no evidence to support “vaccines do not cause autism” claims. Drug Topics. November 20, 2025. Accessed January 26, 2026. https://www.drugtopics.com/view/cdc-updates-webpage-saying-no-evidence-supports-vaccines-do-not-cause-autism-claims
14. Gallagher A. Trump administration claims link between autism and acetaminophen use in pregnancy. September 23, 2025. Accessed January 26, 2026. https://www.drugtopics.com/view/trump-administration-claims-link-between-autism-and-acetaminophen-use-in-pregnancy
