In brief
President Donald Trump signed an executive order that shortens the childhood vaccination schedule to 11 core shots and recommends dividing the MMR vaccine into separate visits. Trump cited a perceived decline in health and autism rates as the rationale, despite scientific consensus finding no causal link between MMR and autism. The federal government lacks authority to enforce school‑attendance vaccine mandates, leaving that responsibility to states. The move has drawn criticism from medical experts and public health officials who warn it could undermine herd immunity. The order starkly contrasts current CDC guidelines and faces significant opposition within the medical community.
President Donald Trump has signed an order that calls for fewer childhood vaccines and also recommends splitting the mumps, measles and rubella (MMR) shots.
“Decades ago, children received only a small fraction of the vaccines required today,” Trump said on Monday. He claimed that health was better then and that the high rates of autism now observed did not exist.
The administration has long promoted a discredited link between MMR vaccines and autism, but multiple studies have found no credible evidence for such a connection.
The federal government does not have the authority to enforce the new recommendations; school attendance vaccine mandates remain set at the state level.
Trump noted that his order “recognises gold standard childhood vaccine recommendations for only 11 core vaccinations against the most serious and dangerous diseases,” citing measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Haemophilus influenzae type B, pneumococcal disease, human papillomavirus, and varicella.
“We’re reducing them,” he said. “It’s not only that you’re doing fewer vaccines, but you’re also doing them in a series of visits to the doctor.”
