President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday recommending that certain vaccines given to children be spaced further apart and that the combined shot against measles, mumps and rubella be split into separate injections.
The federal government cannot directly impose these changes, so it is advising individual states to review vaccination requirements for attending school. The order comes as the United States is experiencing its worst measles outbreak in 35 years.
Trump raises autism again
Presenting the order in the Oval Office, Trump again linked vaccination to autism, even though medical research has never established a connection between the two. He said that decades ago, children received only a small fraction of the vaccines given today, and that people were in much better health at the time, adding that the high rate of autism seen now did not exist then. He also acknowledged that the causes of autism are not known.
Trump also referred to injections he described as the size of a soda bottle, without clarifying what the comparison referred to. He said he wants the measles, mumps and rubella vaccines offered separately rather than in a single shot. The Department of Health is to set up a working group to study that possibility, in cooperation with the private sector and other countries where relevant. White House officials asked about the reasoning behind the split did not give a clear explanation.
Pediatricians warn of risk to children
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) opposes the change. Its president, Andrew Racine, said it would take more than a decade to develop separate vaccines licensed in the United States. Aaron M. Milstone, of the AAP, said the recommendation remains to give children a vaccine whose safety is backed by decades of data.
Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, who is also a physician, criticized the order as well, saying it could increase distrust and compromise the safety of children. Cassidy said the order was a mistake and that the president does not have the expertise needed to carry out these changes. He said vaccines are extremely safe, that they are effective, and that vaccines do not cause autism.
Kennedy's broader review of vaccines
Since being appointed health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, known for his anti-vaccine views, has launched a wide-ranging review of vaccines, changed the pediatric vaccination schedule and cut funding for the development of new vaccines, drawing strong criticism from the medical and scientific community.
American courts had earlier in 2026 suspended the overhaul of vaccine policy launched by Kennedy, after several healthcare associations argued the measures were illegal. Jeffrey Singer, of the Cato Institute, also criticized the new direction, saying the changes proposed by the Trump administration to the childhood vaccination schedule show the risks of letting government recommendations take a privileged place in medical decision-making.
