Staff Reports
President Donald Trump signed an executive order to lower the number of routinely recommended childhood vaccines from 18 to 11 and to split combined shots such as the MMR vaccine into separate injections Aug. 10.
The administration stated the goal is to match the pratices of peer European countries, reduce doctor visit loads, and give parents more flexibiity.
The White House argued that the U.S. recommends more routine childhood vaccine doses than peer developed nations in Europe and should allign with their core lists.
The administration claimed that spreading immunizations across a greater number of seperate doctor visits places less stress on a child’s immune system.
Trump and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pointed to rising autism rates as a reason to re-evaluate the schedule and separate the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine into individual components.
Major medical organizations and pediatric groups state there is no credible scientific evidence linking combined vaccines or the standard schedule for to autism. Experts warn that splitting shots or delaying schedules increases the risk of children contracting dangerous, preventable diseases or missing doses entirely.
The executive order serves as federal guidance rather than a strict law. School vaccine mandates and attendance requirements are legally set by individual state governments rather than the White House, and many health departments, including New Mexico’s, have announced that local requirements will remain unchanged.
