President Donald Trump signed an executive order on August 10 directing that the combined measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine be split into three individual shots. The order also calls for childhood immunizations to be administered at separate medical visits rather than combined appointments.
The order, reported by Healthline, introduces a new framework that would prioritize routine vaccination against 11 diseases for all children. Several other vaccines would be moved into categories labeled as either for high-risk populations or subject to shared decision making between families and doctors.
At the Oval Office signing, Trump repeatedly suggested a connection between the timing or number of vaccines given to children and rising rates of autism. Decades of research have firmly established that no such link exists. A large study of 2.5 million children in the United States found no association between receiving the MMR shot before age 2 and a later autism diagnosis.
The American Academy of Pediatrics responded the same day the order was signed. "There is no new evidence to justify significant changes to childhood immunization guidance," said AAP President Andrew D. Racine, MD, PhD, FAAP.
Racine continued: "Dozens of studies involving millions of people show there is no link between vaccines and autism, and yet federal leaders continue to promote this outdated, disproven idea to scare families. Today's executive order will do nothing to support families of children with autism or advance understanding of the condition."
The White House defended the move. "President Trump is one of countless parents who have voiced questions and concerns about the combined MMR vaccine," said White House spokesperson Kush Desai.
The executive order does not carry the force of law. It is described as a recommendation, and it has no immediate effect on school-entry vaccine requirements, which are set at the state level. The order does advise states to review their current requirements.
The order also directs Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and the HHS Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines to make individual vaccines available to families, beginning with the MMR vaccine, and to reassess the timing and sequencing of other childhood vaccines on the current schedule.
