With measles cases at their highest level in 35 years, the Trump administration issued an executive order Monday reducing the recommended childhood immunization count from 18 to 11, and recommending the MMR vaccine be split into three separate shots at separate visits. No such individual vaccines currently exist or are FDA-approved, and the CDC itself says there is no evidence splitting the shot offers any benefit.
This follows Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s January attempt to strip seven vaccines — including flu, COVID, and hepatitis B — from the CDC's childhood schedule, which a federal judge blocked in March. In Hawaii, nearly 40,000 students, 21% statewide, were not up to date on required immunizations last school year, with kindergarten MMR coverage dipping below the 90% herd-immunity threshold.
The American Academy of Pediatrics called the order 'disheartening but dangerous,' and Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, a physician, said publicly that breaking up vaccines will mean more shots, not fewer, and will increase hesitancy.
The full dispatch is available from the source below.