US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order mandating major changes to childhood vaccines, reducing the number of recommended shots and splitting the combined MMR vaccine into separate doses. The order, announced Monday at the Oval Office, directs that childhood vaccines be given at separate appointments wherever possible, mandates the number of childhood vaccines drop to 11 from the currently recommended 18, and instructs the US health department to develop a plan for separate measles, mumps and rubella vaccines.
Trump's rationale
Trump has long doubted the safety of MMR vaccines, despite multiple studies finding no causal link between the shots and autism. In the announcement, he claimed his administration is "recognising gold standard childhood vaccine recommendations for only 11 core vaccinations against the most serious and dangerous diseases." The immunisations recommended for all children under the order are for measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Haemophilus influenzae type B, pneumococcal disease, human papillomavirus, and varicella (chicken pox).
"We're reducing them," Trump said. "It's not only that you're doing fewer vaccines, or jabs, as they say, but you're doing them in a series of visits to the doctor." He suggested the MMR vaccine could be "quite lethal" if given at once, comparing it to pouring a bottle of soda into a child's body. When a reporter asked for evidence of the "lethal" claim, Trump said: "What I've heard is that there are some people that say it is that way."
Experts' backlash
Public health experts have warned that spacing out jabs could increase the risk of children contracting vaccine-preventable diseases before returning for another appointment. AAP president Dr Andrew Racine called the mandate "dangerous" and not based on "gold-standard science," saying it spreads "uncertainty, fear and confusion" where "there doesn’t need to be any of that." "Delaying or skipping shots is risky, especially as measles continues to spread and children go back to school," Dr Racine added.
Fellow Republican and Senate health committee chair Senator Bill Cassidy also criticised the move. "I’m a doctor. This executive order is wrong," the Louisiana senator wrote online. "The President does not have the expertise to make these changes."
Context and impact
The order comes as children return to classrooms across the US amid a measles outbreak that experts warn could result in the country losing its measles elimination status. Doctors have also warned that Trump's claims about vaccines could fuel vaccine hesitancy, as federal data shows childhood vaccination rates have been falling. Separate shots for the current MMR vaccination are currently not available in the US.
