NC's vaccine requirements won't change under Trump order, health director says

Lily Carey, The News & Observer on Aug 12, 2026

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RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina’s vaccine requirements won’t change ahead of the 2026-27 school year, state officials say, despite a new executive order from President Donald Trump that calls for looser childhood vaccine recommendations.

Trump’s order calls for the measles, mumps and rubella vaccines — typically administered at the same time — to be split up into three separate visits over a 12- to 18-month period. It also recommends that vaccinations for influenza, COVID-19 and hepatitis A and B be designated as “voluntary.”

The order, signed Monday, has been met with widespread criticism from doctors and health policy experts, who say that loosening vaccine recommendations could put more children at risk of infection.

“Vaccinations play a vital role in protecting children, their families and communities from the preventable spread of infectious diseases,” said Dr. Larry Greenblatt, North Carolina’s state health director, in a Tuesday news release. “Nothing has changed regarding the strong evidence supporting current vaccine recommendations and vaccines remain widely available and accessible for individuals and families throughout the state.”

Each state has the authority to set its own vaccine requirements, even if those don’t line up directly with federal requirements. In North Carolina, children are required to receive 12 core vaccinations — including the hepatitis A and B, influenza and MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccines.

The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday that it “does not anticipate changes to our clinical guidance regarding childhood immunization.”

Trump has made several other attempts to scale back vaccine requirements, many of which have been temporarily blocked by federal judges.

However, the new executive order also directs the U.S. attorney general to continue pursuing legal action against states whose laws conflict with “parental authority, religious freedom, disability accommodations, and equal protection under the law,” including any laws that limit medical or religious exemptions from vaccines.

It directs the federal Departments of Education, Justice, and Health and Human Services to “take appropriate action to ensure that their contractors and grantees, including States and localities, are compliant” with those directives .

North Carolina does grant medical and religious exemptions for vaccines; about 3.7% of kindergarteners had exemptions during the 2025-26 school year.

The state’s current immunization requirements are available online in English and Spanish, and children under 18 can be vaccinated for free through the state’s Vaccines for Kids program.

As of the 2025-26 school year, 2.6% of North Carolina’s kindergarten students were behind on their required vaccinations.

The state also runs a dashboard tracking how many K-5 students are up to date on measles vaccines in each county and at each school; in Wake County, an estimated 95% of students have all their required vaccinations, while Durham County lags behind at 92%.

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