Trump Signs Executive Order Spacing Out Childhood Vaccines Into Separate Visits

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday calling for revamped childhood vaccine recommendations that would space out shots into separate medical visits, including separating the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine into three different single-disease shots.

“President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order calling for revamped childhood vaccine recommendations”

Associated Press

The order directs the nation’s health department to improve vaccine research and to present a plan to offer separate measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines for children, since that is not currently an option in the United States.

Associated Press

Speaking at the Oval Office, Trump also said that one-year-olds should have their shots separated out into five separate visits, though it was not clear whether he meant all vaccines they receive or specific ones.

Public health experts raised concerns that spacing out shots as Trump suggests can lead to an increased risk that children become infected with a vaccine-preventable disease before returning for another visit.

The Associated Press reported that the order includes changes to the childhood vaccine schedule that the health department had already attempted but that had been blocked by a federal judge.

Dr. Andrew Racine, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said the announcement spreads uncertainty, fear and confusion where "there doesn't need to be any of that," and he disputed the administration’s recommendations.

Racine said, "Science about vaccines and their efficacy has not changed," and added that "Children in this country have not changed in the last 48 hours."

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Sen. Bill Cassidy, the Republican chair of the Senate health committee, slammed the executive order in a social media post, writing, "I’m a doctor. This executive order is wrong."

Cassidy also said, "The President does not have the expertise to make these changes," as the order faced opposition from medical groups.

The Associated Press said the executive order promotes Trump’s long-held but discredited theory that childhood shots should be spaced out into separate medical visits, even as scientific consensus and decades of studies have concluded there is no link to autism.

The order advises states with school vaccine mandates to consider updating their laws to reflect the administration’s preferred schedule, while states—not the federal government—have the authority to require vaccinations for schoolchildren.

“states, not the federal government, have the authority to require vaccinations for schoolchildren”

Associated Press

The Associated Press said the order also includes several changes to the childhood vaccine schedule that the health department had already attempted but that had been blocked by a federal judge.

Public health law expert Lawrence Gostin at Georgetown University said, "This is clearly the first test for Dr. Erica Schwartz," and warned that "The President is placing her in an untenable position."

The order comes as Trump has repeatedly suggested the number or timing of vaccines could play a role in rising rates of autism spectrum disorder, even as the Associated Press said scientific consensus and decades of studies have firmly concluded there is no link.

In a separate development, the Associated Press reported that Trump ordered HHS last December to review how peer nations approach vaccine recommendations and consider revising U.S. guidance accordingly, and that the department responded by cutting the number of vaccines it recommends for every child, a move that has since been blocked in court.