Trump orders split MMR vaccine into three separate shots, experts warn of safety concerns
President Trump signed an executive order to replace the combined measles-mumps-rubella vaccine with three separate injections, a move that vaccine specialists say lacks scientific support and would take years to implement.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing that the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine be administered as three separate injections rather than the combined MMR shot that has been used in the United States since 1971. The order was announced during a signing ceremony in the Oval Office, where the president suggested the combined vaccine could be "quite lethal."
Public health experts said no research links the MMR combination to fatal outcomes and that splitting the vaccine offers no proven safety or efficacy benefits. They noted that the combined formulation was adopted after extensive testing and has been given to hundreds of millions of children worldwide.
Vaccine manufacturers indicated that producing individual measles, mumps or rubella vaccines for the U.S. market would require at least five to ten years of development and regulatory review, as such products have not been available domestically for many years.
"There is no evidence that the combination MMR shot is dangerous, nor that separating it would improve safety or effectiveness," said a spokesperson for a leading vaccine research organization.