Princeton corridor families sending children back to school Aug. 13, don't need to change a thing about their kids' immunization records.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Aug. 10, calling for a major overhaul of federal childhood vaccine recommendations, including urging that all childhood vaccines be administered at separate medical visits and recognizing only 11 "core" vaccinations for all children. But Ohio's school vaccination requirements remain unchanged, and local pediatricians say they aren't altering their guidance.
"As of now, nothing is changing. Your school-required vaccines are not changing. What your pediatrician is recommending is not changing," Dr. Kristen Dinkelacker of West Side Pediatrics told WLWT on Monday.
Princeton City Schools opens its doors Aug. 13, for grades 1–5, grade 6, grade 9 and the Innovation Center. All students grades 1–12 report Aug. 14, and PreK and kindergarten students start Aug. 17, according to the district's back-to-school letter signed by Superintendent Dr. Mari E. Phillips.
Ohio requires DTaP, polio, hepatitis B, chickenpox and meningococcal vaccines for school attendance. Those requirements are set by state law, not federal recommendation, and the executive order does not change them.
Why local doctors are concerned
Dinkelacker said the order's call to separate vaccine appointments would increase costs for families and raise the risk of missed doses. She said she has already seen more parents requesting alternative vaccine schedules over the past year.
Dinkelacker told WLWT that the more appointments parents must schedule, the greater the chance they'll miss a dose, calling it "one more thing for busy parents to remember to do." She added that any delay in vaccination leaves children vulnerable to disease in the interim.
She also noted the individual measles, mumps and rubella vaccines are not currently manufactured separately in the United States, making the order's call to split the MMR shot impossible to implement immediately.
Hamilton County Public Health, the Cincinnati Health Department and the Northern Kentucky Health Department are urging families to make sure children are up to date on routine immunizations before the school year begins.
National context
The executive order directs the Department of Health and Human Services to reassess vaccine sequencing and timing within 90 days, CBS News reported. A previous administration effort to reduce the CDC's childhood vaccine schedule was blocked by a federal judge in March.
The American Academy of Pediatrics called the order disheartening and dangerous in a statement issued the same day, citing measles cases at a 35-year high. As of July 23, the U.S. had recorded 2,318 measles cases across 43 states, with 93% occurring in unvaccinated people and nearly 69% in children and teenagers.
Nationally, kindergarten MMR vaccination coverage dropped from 95.2% in the 2019–2020 school year to 92.5% in 2024–2025, falling below the 95% threshold needed for herd immunity.
Legal experts note executive orders are guidance to federal agencies, not laws passed by Congress, and have no direct effect on state-level school vaccination requirements, The Guardian reported. School immunization mandates are set at the state and local level.
What Princeton families should do
Parents with questions about their child's immunization status can contact their pediatrician or Hamilton County Public Health. Ohio's full list of required school vaccinations is available at odh.ohio.gov. Princeton's first bell rings Thursday morning.
