Trump signs an executive order that puts children’s vaccinations at risk
The order overturns decades of federal guidelines on childhood vaccinations and calls on the states to review school vaccination requirements
Donald Trump has today signed an executive order that overturns decades of federal guidelines on childhood vaccinations and calls on the states to review school vaccination requirements. According to the draft of the measure, which the Washington Post has seen, the ‘Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations’ (Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations) would split the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine into three separate injections rather than combining them as has been the case to date. However, medical experts say the single-dose MMR vaccine has proven to be safe and effective, whilst splitting it up could expose children to the risk of dangerous diseases for a longer period. Furthermore, vaccines for other diseases, including hepatitis A and B and meningococcal disease, would be recommended only for high-risk children or on the basis of a shared decision between parents and doctors. Vaccines against influenza and coronavirus would also fall into this category.
It is generally the individual states, rather than the federal government, that set vaccination requirements for children. And many states have already stated that they will not follow the administration’s recommendations but will instead rely on those of the American Academy of Paediatrics and other leading medical organisations.
Trump: ‘Every year we see more and more cases of autism in children’
‘Every year we are seeing more and more cases of autism in children. We don’t yet know why, but these are very good recommendations.” Donald Trump made this statement regarding the paediatric vaccination programme, which has long been supported by his Health Secretary, Robert Kennedy Jr. There is no scientific evidence directly linking vaccines to cases of autism in children.
