Doctors say President Donald Trump’s new executive order on vaccines is misguided and likely to stoke fear and confusion among parents at a time when measles is raging, immunization rates are falling and children are heading back to school. “Many families are finishing up that back-to-school checklist, and among those things is the medical checkup and assuring that their kids have their vaccines,” Michigan pediatrician Dr. Molly O’Shea said. “To put into question the safety or efficacy of these vaccines right now is really unfortunate and ill-conceived.” The order, signed Monday, advocates separating the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine into three different single-disease shots and giving all childhood immunizations at separate appointments when possible. It also includes several changes to the childhood vaccine schedule already attempted by Trump’s health department but blocked by a federal judge. The department is run by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who helped lead the anti-vaccine movement for years.
Trump repeatedly suggested the number or timing of vaccines could play a role in rising rates of autism spectrum disorder, even though decades of studies have firmly concluded there is no link. He also strongly suggested that the MMR vaccine could be harmful or even deadly.Dr. Paul Offit, a Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia vaccine researcher and former government adviser, said the recommendations by Trump and Kennedy “are just not science based,” and it’s irresponsible to cast doubt on a vaccine that protects against measles when the nation is facing its biggest epidemic in more than 30 years.“The harm that it will cause is … to induce chaos and confusion into the system, so people aren’t sure what they’re supposed to do,” he said.
