President Donald Trump signed an executive order to change how and when children get their childhood vaccines. He called the change “a major victory for parents rights, religious and constitutional rights, and for the gold standard science.”
The order, signed on Aug. 10, advises doctors to separate the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine from one MMR shot into three single-disease vaccinations, given at separate appointments if possible, The Associated Press reported.
It also directs federal officials to improve vaccine research and offer a plan to have three separate vaccines for children, which is not an option in the U.S., the AP said.
Trump suggested during the order’s signing that the number or timing of vaccines may play a role in autism spectrum disorder rates rising, despite decades of science saying there is no connection.
The president also said the combined MMR vaccine could be deadly, The New York Times reported.
“Together, there could be a possibility they’re quite lethal,” Trump said in the Oval Office, the newspaper reported.
Despite his assertions, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that there is a small risk of seizures if a child has a high fever, which can happen from any high fever, not only one that occurs after a vaccine.
He also cited practices outside of the U.S. that give individual measles vaccines in some situations.
Health experts have said that spacing out the vaccines could increase children’s risk of contracting one of the illnesses before they go for their next shot.
Trump said, “nothing bad can happen from what we’re doing.” He also said that children get vaccines in amounts “the size of a bottle of soda,” “gallons,” and “vats of vaccine.” Most shots have between .25 and .5 milliliters, or a twentieth to a tenth of a teaspoon. Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. said children get 72 shots, but the Times said it’s about 35 by the age of 5.
Former CDC acting director and president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Dr. Richard Besser, said there is “no medical purpose and would force parents to make multiple appointments, needlessly take time off work and make child care arrangements.”
Dr. Andrew Racine, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said, “The only thing that I can see is going to happen as a result of the announcement from today is an injection of greater amounts of uncertainty and fear and confusion, where there doesn’t need to be any of that,” CNN reported
The order also addresses another concern involving aluminum salts, which are used in some vaccines. Studies show that aluminum salts have been used for more than 100 years to increase immune responses, and are deemed safe. There was a study that showed a possible small link with asthma, but the study could not illustrate cause and effect. A second study found no link, the Times said.
Combined vaccines increase the chance that children have all recommended vaccines by the time they turn 2 years old.
A CDC study published in 2024 found that for children born between 1994 and 2023, routine vaccinations “prevented approximately 508 million cases of illness, 32 million hospitalizations and 1,129,000 deaths.”
Despite Trump’s order, the AP noted that states make the rules concerning childhood vaccinations for school children, not the federal government, but the order does advise states to update their laws to match his order.
A fact sheet from the White House reads, “States that enact school vaccine requirements are advised to consider the Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations and consider updating their laws to reflect the recommendations.”
The document goes on to say, “The Order maximizes parental choice over childhood vaccines by promoting State compliance with constitutional and Federal law related to parental authority, religious freedom, disability accommodations, and equal protection under the law, including States’ obligations to provide religious and medical exemptions from childhood and adolescent immunization requirement.”
Late last year, the Department of Health and Human Services had cut the number of recommended vaccines, but the change was blocked in court, the AP said.
So what does it mean as children head back to school?
CNN noted that the changes probably won’t happen for months or even years, despite the executive order’s signing.
Insurance coverage is also not likely to be impacted since the CDC’s vaccine schedule remains mostly unchanged, with some shots being moved to a “shared clinical decision-making” category.
Blue Cross Blue Shield and CVS told CNN on Monday they were reviewing the order but were planning on covering vaccines on the CDC’s schedule without co-pays for the time being.