Key Takeaways
President Trump signed an executive order Monday reducing the number of vaccines recommended for children, while keeping recommendations for 11 diseases including measles and polio.
The order limits hepatitis A and B and meningococcal vaccines to high-risk populations and advises splitting the combined MMR vaccine into three separate shots.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican physician, publicly opposed the order, and researchers note studies have consistently found no link between vaccines and autism.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday to reduce the number of vaccines recommended for American children, with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at his side in the Oval Office, according to UPI. The order still recommends childhood vaccines for 11 diseases, including measles and polio, but limits vaccines for hepatitis A and B and meningococcal disease to high-risk populations.
The order also advises breaking the combined MMR vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella into three separate shots. Trump described the MMR vaccine as dangerous at the signing, a claim with no supporting evidence in the more than 50 years since the vaccine was developed. He also repeated claims linking childhood vaccines to autism, per CNN. Scientific research has consistently found no connection between vaccines and autism.
The pushback came fast, and some of it came from his own party. Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a medical doctor, wrote that vaccines are overwhelmingly safe and effective and that splitting shots means children need more injections for the same protection. "The President does not have the expertise to make these changes," Cassidy posted. Trump acknowledged the added burden to reporters after the signing, saying the schedule would now involve five stops.
The order lands during a sweeping HHS remake, weeks after the agency decertified Kentucky's organ procurement organization and proposed erasing about 1,400 Head Start rules. Public health researchers warn fewer vaccinated children means more vulnerable ones. That tradeoff is now federal policy.
People Also Ask
What does Trump's vaccine executive order change?
It keeps childhood vaccine recommendations for 11 diseases including measles and polio, limits hepatitis A and B and meningococcal vaccines to high-risk populations, and advises splitting the MMR vaccine into three separate shots.
Does the MMR vaccine cause autism?
No. Scientific research over decades has consistently found no connection between the MMR vaccine, or any childhood vaccine, and autism.
What did Senator Bill Cassidy say about the order?
Cassidy, a Republican physician, said the president does not have the expertise to make these changes, that vaccines are overwhelmingly safe and effective, and that splitting shots will increase hesitancy and make children less safe.
Which vaccines are limited to high-risk groups under the order?
Vaccines for hepatitis A, hepatitis B and meningococcal disease would be recommended only for high-risk populations rather than all children.