Trump order pushes separate MMR shots, sparks backlash from health experts

Donald Trump has ordered changes to childhood vaccine guidance, including separate MMR shots and staggered appointments. The move has drawn criticism from doctors and some Republicans, who say the science does not support it.Image used for representational purposes onlyUS President Donald Trump has signed an executive order calling for changes to childhood vaccine recommendations, including a proposal to split the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine into three separate single-disease shots and to give childhood immunisations at separate appointments whenever possible.The order also asks the health department to improve vaccine research and prepare a plan to offer separate measles, mumps and rubella vaccines for children, which are not currently available in the United States. The move has drawn criticism from public health experts and some Republicans, who said vaccine safety guidance should remain based on existing scientific evidence.Trump described the announcement as a "major victory for parents rights, religious and constitutional rights, and for the gold standard science". Speaking in the Oval Office on Monday, he again suggested that the number or timing of vaccines could be linked to rising autism spectrum disorder rates, even though scientific consensus and decades of studies have found no such link.Public health experts have said spacing out shots in the way Trump suggested could raise the risk of children catching a vaccine-preventable disease before they return for another appointment. Childhood vaccines, and decisions on how and when to give them together, go through extensive studies, with safety monitoring continuing for years after they are introduced. The executive order also includes several changes to the childhood vaccine schedule that the administration's health department had already tried to make, but which were blocked by a federal judge. A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Trump was entitled to make his own recommendation through an executive order and said the lawsuit over the department's schedule was a separate matter.Dr Andrew Racine, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said the announcement was creating uncertainty, fear and confusion where "there doesn't need to be any of that". Rejecting Trump's recommendations, he said the existing ones should remain in place. "Science about vaccines and their efficacy has not changed," he said. "The distribution of viruses and other pathogens in our environment has not changed. Children in this country have not changed in the last 48 hours." Senator Bill Cassidy, the Republican chairman of the Senate health committee, also criticised the order in a social media post, saying vaccines are safe and do not cause autism. "I'm a doctor. This executive order is wrong," the Louisiana senator wrote. "The President does not have the expertise to make these changes."Even as the order seeks revised vaccine recommendations, states, not the federal government, have the authority to require vaccination for schoolchildren. According to a White House fact sheet, the order advises states with school vaccine mandates to consider changing their laws to match the administration's preferred schedule.Last December, Trump directed the Department of Health and Human Services to review how other countries approach vaccine recommendations and consider changing US guidance. The department later reduced the number of vaccines it recommends for every child, but that move has since been blocked in court. Changes to federal childhood vaccine recommendations usually need approval from the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The newly Senate-confirmed CDC director, Dr Erica Schwartz, had earlier overseen policies promoting vaccination of service members while serving in a leadership role at the US Coast Guard.Lawrence Gostin, a public health law expert at Georgetown University, said the Supreme Court's view of Trump's powers may allow him to overrule Schwartz if she does not support the new recommendations. "This is clearly the first test for Dr. Erica Schwartz," Gostin said in an email. "The President is placing her in an untenable position."Asked why Trump was pushing for the MMR vaccine to be split into three separate shots, the White House official did not cite any studies in support of the move. The official said this had long been Trump's view and added that some countries offer individual measles vaccines in certain cases. Trump spokesperson Kush Desai said the president is "one of countless parents who have voiced questions and concerns about the combined MMR vaccine" and said the plan to develop single-disease vaccines would "give parents more options on timing and frequency for their children", which he said would increase vaccine uptake.Studies of babies and toddlers in the United States have shown that combination shots for childhood vaccines, rather than separate ones, made it more likely that children completed all recommended vaccinations by the age of two. The latest order also comes after other vaccine-related moves by the Trump administration, including steps by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who had been an anti-vaccine activist before entering politics, to reshape immunisation guidance and replace a 17-member vaccine advisory committee with members whose more restrictive recommendations were later halted by a federal judge.In effect, the order seeks to reshape the federal approach to childhood vaccines by changing the recommended schedule and promoting separate shots, even as critics say the existing science has not changed and states will still decide vaccine requirements for schoolchildren.With PTI Inputs- EndsPublished By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Aug 11, 2026 04:28 IST