Washington: President Donald Trump recommended replacing the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine with three separate shots as part of a sweeping overhaul of America’s childhood immunisation policy.
The recommendation will take effect once single-disease versions of the vaccines are domestically available. Until then, the combined MMR vaccine will remain accessible.
Trump’s executive order also recommends administering childhood vaccines during separate medical visits “to the maximum extent feasible”. The White House said the changes would give parents greater control over the timing and frequency of vaccinations.
The order directs the Health and Human Services secretary to develop options for administering core childhood vaccines individually rather than through combination products. The process will begin with the MMR vaccine.
HHS must submit its plans to the president within 90 days through the White House domestic policy adviser. The department may work with private companies and other countries to make individual vaccines available.
The order also guarantees the continued availability of combination vaccines and immunisations recommended through shared clinical decision-making.
The MMR recommendation forms part of the administration’s new “Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations”. The framework reduces the number of diseases for which immunisation is routinely recommended for all children from 18 under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2024 schedule to 11.
Measles, mumps and rubella remain among the diseases for which the Trump administration recommends immunising every child. The other eight are diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Haemophilus influenzae type B, pneumococcal disease, human papillomavirus and chickenpox, also known as varicella.
Other immunisations have been placed in categories covering children in certain high-risk groups or decisions made jointly by parents and clinicians.
The order lists respiratory syncytial virus monoclonal antibodies and vaccines against hepatitis A, hepatitis B, meningococcal B, meningococcal ACWY and dengue in the high-risk category.
Vaccinations against influenza and COVID-19 are among those placed under shared clinical decision-making. That category also includes hepatitis A, hepatitis B, rotavirus and meningococcal disease.
The administration said its approach was based on a January 2026 HHS scientific assessment comparing US childhood immunisation recommendations with those of other developed countries.
According to the White House, the assessment found that the United States recommended more childhood vaccines than any peer country and more than twice as many doses as some European nations. It identified 11 immunisations that it said were consistently recommended across the countries studied.
In addition to separating combination vaccines, HHS was ordered to examine the timing and sequencing of all core childhood immunisations. It may adjust the federal childhood and adolescent vaccine schedule based on its findings.
The department was also directed to develop alternatives to aluminium-based adjuvants, conduct comparative safety and efficacy studies, continually assess vaccine risks and benefits using American and international data, and improve safety monitoring, research and transparency.
Federal departments and agencies must review the new recommendations and take appropriate steps to advance them. States and territories were advised to consider updating laws governing vaccination requirements for school enrolment and attendance.
(IANS)
