President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that seeks to dramatically reshape vaccine policy in the United States, including a change that contradicts one of his other stated goals: to give children fewer shots. Trump’s order says the combination vaccine that protects against measles, mumps, and rubella, called MMR, should be administered in three separate single-disease shots.
Expert Concerns
Immunologists and vaccine experts say there’s no valid reason to do that. Splitting up and spreading out childhood vaccines would be a seismic shift for families and a complicated, costly pursuit for the country that would only leave more people vulnerable to preventable diseases.
A combination MMR vaccine has been used in the United States for more than 50 years. Scientific studies have consistently shown that combination vaccines like MMR increase vaccination coverage and vaccine confidence, and they do that partly by reducing the total number of shots, which can be scary for kids and their parents.
Merck, which developed the original MMR combination shot, stopped supplying single, or monovalent, vaccines against measles, mumps, and rubella in the US in 2008. In a letter to doctors explaining the change, the company said the combined vaccine is preferred because it eliminates the need for 3 separate injections and reduces the chance of delays in helping protect against any of these potentially serious diseases.
Constitutional Implications
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention agrees. No published scientific evidence shows any benefit in separating the combination MMR vaccine into three individual shots, the agency says on its website. This decision may raise concerns about parental rights and the role of government in healthcare.
Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump and other administration officials listed a litany of reasons for the recommended changes: to emphasize parental authority, to improve trust in vaccines, to align with other countries’ vaccine schedules. However, experts argue that this decision may have unintended consequences, such as decreased vaccination rates and increased risk of disease outbreaks.
Original reporting: KTVZ (Central Oregon) — read the source article.
