President Donald Trump today signed an executive order to defund schools, universities and other education agencies that require COVID-19 vaccines for students and staff.
The order directs Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the secretary of Education to create a plan to end the mandates and to end federal funding for institutions that don’t comply with their plan, The Hill reported.
During his campaign, Trump said he would end school COVID-19 vaccine mandates, many of which were enacted during his first presidential term.
“I will not give one penny to any school that has a vaccine mandate or a mask mandate.”
Breitbart broke the news Friday afternoon that the order was forthcoming.
“This is such welcome news!” said Children’s Health Defense CEO Mary Holland. “So many students throughout the country have been forced out of their educational programs because of coercive COVID-19 vaccine mandates, and so many more have been injured or have died as a result of coercive medicine.”
“It is wonderful to see the President restoring the cornerstone of medical ethics — informed consent — to U.S. educational institutions.”
Lucia Sinatra, co-founder of No College Mandates which has been fighting to end college mandates since the booster mandates were rolled out in 2021, told The Defender that she and her organization “couldn’t be more thrilled.”
“I think this is another perfect example of promises made, promises kept,” she said. “It is long overdue because college students are still subject to these mandates as a condition of enrollment.”
Fifteen colleges or universities still mandate the COVID-19 vaccine for all or some portion of students, according to the organization.
It is unclear whether the order would affect any grade schools. “The nonprofit Immunize.org said as of May 2024, no state required COVID-19 vaccines for any grade level K-12,” Fox News reported.
This article was funded by critical thinkers like you.
The Defender is 100% reader-supported. No corporate sponsors. No paywalls. Our writers and editors rely on you to fund stories like this that mainstream media won’t write.
Heather Hudson, mother of vaccine-injured Cody Hudson posted on X that she “dropped to her knees” when she heard the news, hopeful that other students will be spared the fate of her son, who was permanently and seriously disabled by the vaccine, which he took in order to attend college.
As a mother, I dropped to my knees upon reading the headline below that Covid-19 school mandates are being abolished! My beloved son Cody has been fighting for his life since October 2021, eight weeks after taking his mRNA vaccines, in order to go to college. My husband knew… https://t.co/j1NPz0oeTZ pic.twitter.com/60yrCvKDS7
— Heather Hudson (@Amothersanthem) February 14, 2025
The Hill noted that the vaccines were developed under the Trump administration, and he initially celebrated them. Yet Trump has also been publicly critical of the shots.
The Trump administration already signed an executive order to reinstate service members who were discharged under the military’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate. The U.S. Department of Defense plans to invite those service members back at the same rank they previously held.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security under Trump also ended the Biden administration requirement that green card applicants show proof of vaccination, according to Breitbart.
Related stories in The Defender
