US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order calling for a reduction in the number of vaccines routinely recommended for children, raising questions over whether other countries could follow Washington’s lead.
According to the BBC, the order calls for the number of childhood vaccines recommended by the US to be reduced from 18 to 11 and recommends separating the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine into individual shots.
Trump defended the move on Monday, saying children decades ago received far fewer vaccines and arguing that people were “much healthier” at the time. He also linked the increased use of vaccines to the rise in autism, despite extensive scientific research finding no credible evidence that vaccines, including the MMR vaccine, cause autism.
Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said his administration was recognising what he described as “gold standard” recommendations covering 11 core vaccines against serious diseases.
The vaccines listed under the new recommendations protect against measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Haemophilus influenzae type B, pneumococcal disease, human papillomavirus (HPV) and chickenpox. Trump also argued that children would benefit from receiving fewer vaccines and having them administered over a series of visits rather than during the same appointment.
He further suggested that the combined MMR vaccine could be dangerous when administered at once, comparing it to “pouring a bottle of soda into a child’s body”. Medical evidence, however, does not support the claim that the MMR vaccine is dangerous because its three components are given together.
The US move is likely to be closely watched internationally, particularly at a time when several countries are dealing with outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases.
The key question now is whether other governments will reconsider their childhood immunisation schedules in response to the policy shift in Washington, or whether health authorities will continue to follow existing recommendations based on scientific and epidemiological evidence.
Public-health experts have repeatedly stressed that high vaccination coverage is essential to prevent outbreaks and protect children who are too young or medically unable to receive certain vaccines.
