Key facts
- President Donald Trump signed an executive order to alter the federal government's approach to childhood vaccines.
- The order aims to reduce the number of recommended childhood immunizations.
- It mandates the separation of the MMR vaccine into three individual shots, a change not currently possible due to licensing.
- The directive suggests administering all vaccines during separate medical visits.
- The order faces potential legal challenges and is not expected to have direct operational effects.
- It seeks to override the CDC's vaccine recommendation authority.
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that seeks to significantly alter the federal government's approach to childhood vaccines, aiming to reduce the number of recommended immunizations and separate the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine into three individual shots. The order, which attempts to override the authority of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), also suggests that all vaccines be administered during separate medical visits.
Under the draft order, only six of the 17 vaccines routinely recommended for children would continue to have full recommendations, including MMR, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Hib, pneumococcal disease, and varicella. Five other vaccines, such as those for RSV and hepatitis A, would be recommended only for high-risk populations or subject to shared decision-making with a doctor. This marks a departure from current schedules that recommend most of these shots for all children.
Legal experts, including law professor Dorit Reiss, anticipate that the executive order will face significant legal challenges, similar to past actions by the Trump administration. Reiss stated that the order is unlikely to hold up in court and that executive orders serve as guidance to federal agencies, not laws with direct public effect. Despite this, the order could increase political pressure on states to alter their school vaccination requirements.
Trump has consistently advocated for changes to the vaccine schedule and has repeatedly, despite scientific consensus, sought to link vaccines to autism. The move comes ahead of the midterm elections, though some political advisers have expressed concerns about the unpopularity of such controversial vaccine policies.