Trump signs executive order reducing childhood vaccinations: Backlash from the scientific community

U.S. President Donald Trump has signed a new executive order aimed at changing the way childhood vaccines are administered. The order recommends that vaccines given to children be administered in separate doctor visits whenever possible and that the MMR vaccine, known as the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine, be split into three separate individual injections.

The order, signed in the Oval Office, brought back to the agenda Trump's long-held claims about a link between vaccine timing and autism, which are not supported by scientific studies. Trump described the announcement as a "great victory for parental rights, religious and constitutional rights, and gold-standard science."

The executive order also includes instructions for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to expand research on vaccines. It also envisions the preparation of a plan to offer separate measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines for children. However, there is currently no option in the U.S. where the components of the MMR vaccine can be administered to children separately.

Public health experts warn that spacing out vaccines could leave children unprotected. According to experts, the risk of children contracting vaccine-preventable diseases may increase during the time between appointments. The age and combinations at which childhood vaccines are administered are determined through long review processes and ongoing safety monitoring.

CRITICISM FROM EXPERTS AND A REPUBLICAN SENATOR

Dr. Andrew Racine, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said the decision spreads uncertainty, fear, and confusion "for no reason." Stating that current vaccine guidelines should remain valid, Racine said, "The science about vaccines and their effectiveness has not changed. The distribution of viruses and other pathogens around us has not changed. The children in this country have not changed in the last 48 hours."

The reaction to the executive order did not come only from health circles. Senatör Bill Cassidy, the Republican chairman of the Senate health committee, also emphasized in a social media post that vaccines are safe and do not cause autism. Cassidy stated, "I am a doctor. This executive order is wrong. The president does not have the expertise to make these changes."

In the U.S., the authority to determine mandatory vaccination requirements for children belongs more to the states than to the federal government. However, the White House briefing note requested that states with school vaccination mandates consider reviewing their own legislation according to the schedule targeted by the administration.

The Trump administration had also requested last December that vaccine recommendations of peer countries be examined and that U.S. guidelines be updated accordingly. The government later developed an approach recommending fewer vaccines per child, but this step was canceled by a court. Changes to federal vaccine recommendations normally require approval by the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In Trump's second presidential term, vaccines and autism claims have returned to the center of the health agenda. The fact that Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been associated with the anti-vaccine movement in the past also intensifies the debates. Conversely, decades of research and scientific consensus reveal that there is no proven link between childhood vaccines and autism.

News Source: 12punto