Trump's vaccine order prompts critics to warn of increased hesitancy and complications

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to separate the MMR vaccine into individual doses, a move criticised by health experts who fear it could hinder vaccination efforts amid rising measles cases.

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that would upend long-standing childhood immunisation guidance in the United States, promoting his debunked belief that vaccines should be spaced out to reduce health risks. According to reporting by Axios and The Associated Press, the order pushes for the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to be split into three separate injections given at different visits, a move that has drawn swift criticism from public health experts.

The order also directs the health department to boost vaccine research, a point highlighted in a White House fact sheet first published by the Daily Caller. But the practical impact is more limited than the language suggests: the combined MMR shot is the standard formulation in the US, and separate vaccines for each disease are not available for children there, according to the materials cited in the Arabic report and the CDC’s guidance.

Medical experts say the policy runs counter to decades of evidence. The CDC recommends the MMR vaccine in two doses, at 12 to 15 months and again at 4 to 6 years, and says there is no published scientific evidence showing any benefit from breaking the combination shot into three injections. The American Academy of Pediatrics and Senator Bill Cassidy, a Republican and physician, have both criticised the order, warning that it could make vaccination more burdensome and fuel hesitancy at a time when measles cases have been rising.

The political context is also notable. Reuters and The Associated Press have said the administration has recently focused on less contentious health themes, including nutrition, drug pricing and fraud prevention, so the renewed attention to vaccines marks a sharper turn. Trump’s move also comes amid renewed debate over vaccine policy and public trust, with health officials warning that making immunisation slower and more complicated could leave more children exposed to preventable disease.