Earlier this week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order recommending that the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine be split into three separate shots.
“The MMR, we want to have separate visits separate times. The vaccine being broken into three separate single doses and vaccines being administered in separate visits,” Trump said, claiming without evidence that it is safer to receive the immunizations individually.
The order sparked criticism from doctors and public health organizations, which said decades of studies and real-world evidence have shown that the MMR vaccine is safe and effective as administered. Splitting the vaccine into three shots would create a major logistic burden for families with no safety benefit, doctors say.