US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order seeking sweeping changes to the country’s childhood vaccination recommendations, including reducing the number of vaccines routinely recommended for children and separating combination shots into multiple appointments.The order calls for childhood immunisations to be given at separate medical visits “to the maximum extent feasible” and directs the US government to work towards making individual measles, mumps and rubella vaccines available. The move revives Trump’s long-standing claims about vaccine safety and autism, despite decades of research finding no evidence of a link between childhood vaccines and autism.The changes have drawn strong criticism from doctors and public health experts, who warn that spacing out vaccinations could leave children vulnerable to preventable diseases and make it harder for families to complete recommended immunisation schedules. Trump calls for fewer vaccines, separate appointmentsSpeaking at the signing ceremony, Trump said his administration was adopting “gold standard” recommendations covering 11 core diseases, down from 18 diseases covered by recommendations at the end of 2024.The vaccines continuing to have full recommendations cover measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Haemophilus influenzae type B, pneumococcal disease, human papillomavirus and chickenpox.“We’re reducing them,” Trump said. “It’s not only that you’re doing fewer vaccines, or jabs, as they say, but you’re doing them in a series of visits to the doctor.”The order also seeks to split the combined MMR vaccine into three separate shots once individual vaccines become available in the US. Trump suggested the combined vaccine could be dangerous.“Together, there could be a possibility they’re quite lethal,” Trump said of the MMR vaccine at the signing of the order on Monday.However, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there is “no published scientific evidence that shows any benefit in separating the combination MMR vaccine into three individual shots”. It also says getting the MMR vaccine is safer than contracting measles, mumps or rubella. Doctors warn of vaccination gapsPublic health experts have raised concerns that requiring multiple appointments could increase the chances of children contracting vaccine-preventable diseases before receiving their next dose. Families could also be more likely to miss appointments when vaccinations are spread across several visits.Dr Andrew Racine, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, criticised the changes, saying they would create unnecessary uncertainty.“Science about vaccines and their efficacy has not changed,” he said. “The distribution of viruses and other pathogens in our environment has not changed. Children in this country have not changed in the last 48 hours.”Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, a doctor and chair of the Senate health committee, also opposed the order.“I’m a doctor. This executive order is wrong,” the Louisiana senator wrote. “The President does not have the expertise to make these changes.”
