US President Donald Trump has signed a directive recommending that children be given fewer vaccines and that the mumps, measles and rubella (MMR) vaccines be given separately.
On Monday (10 August), Trump said that only a tiny fraction of today’s vaccines were given to children a few decades ago, that people were much healthier then, and that the high rates of autism seen today did not exist.
Trump has long expressed doubts about the safety of the MMR vaccine. But multiple studies have found no link between the vaccine and autism.
The directive also recommends cutting the number of childhood vaccines from the 18 currently recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) to 11.
Trump’s order functions as guidance, not a binding mandate, because the vaccines required for school attendance are decided at the state level rather than by the federal government.
Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said his administration was recognising a recommendation of “only 11 core vaccinations” for children against the most serious and dangerous diseases. Under the directive, the vaccines recommended for all children are measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, Haemophilus influenzae type b, pneumococcal disease, human papillomavirus and varicella, or chickenpox.
“We’re cutting them down,” Trump said. “It’s not just that you’re giving fewer vaccines, or fewer ‘needle pricks’ as they say; it’s that they’re given over repeated visits to the doctor.” The president suggested the MMR vaccine could be “quite deadly” when given together, comparing it to pouring a bottle of soda into a child’s body. Asked by a journalist for evidence of the “deadly” claim, Trump said: “From what I’ve heard, some people say it’s like that.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), young children face a very small risk of febrile seizures from the MMR vaccine, and those with health conditions such as severe allergic reactions or weakened immune systems are advised to consult a healthcare provider before being vaccinated. The agency says most people who receive the MMR vaccine have no serious problems, and that getting the vaccine is far safer than catching measles, mumps or rubella.
The CDC says there is no published scientific evidence of any benefit to splitting the combined MMR vaccine into three separate shots. Experts warn that leaving longer gaps between vaccines exposes children to the risk of falling ill in the meantime, or raises the chance of missed appointments when several separate visits are required.
Trump’s Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, said the aim of the proposed change was to give parents a choice, not to end children’s access to vaccines. Since taking office in 2025, Kennedy has sought to change and loosen vaccine rules. Last week, in a tense 20-minute interview with Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Kennedy said he had never questioned the effectiveness of the MMR vaccine.
Trump administration officials said that, if the directive takes effect, US children will receive far fewer shots than the 72 doses recommended under the previous schedule. But vaccine experts say that figure is exaggerated, because it counts combined vaccines such as MMR as multiple injections and includes annual flu and Covid-19 shots. The federal government has no power to enforce the new recommendation; vaccines required for school attendance are set at the state level.
The president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Dr Andrew Racine, called Trump’s executive order “dangerous.” He noted that it comes at a time when measles infections in the United States have reached their highest level in 35 years, and measles is rising worldwide. Delaying or skipping vaccines is risky, he said, especially as measles continues to spread and children return to school.
Republican Senator Bill Cassidy criticised Trump’s executive order on Monday, calling it “wrong.” Cassidy, a physician, wrote on social media that the president lacked the expertise needed to make such changes, adding that vaccines are very safe and effective and do not cause autism. He urged parents to listen to their child’s paediatrician about vaccines rather than a misinformation-laden executive order.
Experts fear that if parents skip vaccinating their children over the discredited idea of a link to autism, diseases such as measles could return. Multiple studies have found no link between the MMR vaccine and autism. A high-quality 2019 study in Denmark, of 657,461 children, said the data did not support the idea that the MMR vaccine causes or could cause autism.
On its website, the US CDC recommends that children receive two doses of the combined MMR vaccine — the first at 12 to 15 months of age and the second between four and six years. According to the AAP, how often and how many vaccines children receive in the United States depends on when the shots can best make use of their immune systems and when they are most at risk of certain diseases, and there is no medical reason to delay or skip recommended vaccinations.
Trump’s directive also calls for finding alternatives to the aluminium used in vaccines and testing whether those alternatives are safer and more effective. It follows claims that aluminium salts in vaccines cause autism, other neurodevelopmental conditions or serious health problems in children. The AAP called these claims “a long-standing rumour” and said research had found no significant health risk from the tiny amounts of aluminium salts in vaccines. Such small amounts, which occur naturally in soil, water and food, have been used in some vaccines for decades to boost the body’s immune response, and the AAP says this means less vaccine and fewer doses are needed.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report