Trump executive order would split up MMR vaccine

The Trump administration is working on an executive order that calls for fewer childhood vaccinations, splitting the childhood MMR vaccine into three shots and delivering vaccines at separate medical visits, according to language obtained by Axios.

• Trump will sign the EO this afternoon, White House press secretary Karoline Levitt tweeted.

Why it matters: Controversial vaccine policy changes appear to be roaring back ahead of the midterms.

• The executive order states that "the combined MMR vaccine should be administered in three separate single-disease shots once such products are domestically available and that, to the maximum extent feasible, all childhood immunizations should be administered at separate medical visits."

The big picture: Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s handpicked vaccine advisers last fall called for splitting up the MMR shot and overhauling a central component of childhood immunizations.

• But the White House urged Kennedy to back off of such contentious policymaking earlier this year.
• And yet, President Trump has recently questioned Kennedy about the lack of momentum on childhood vaccine policy, per the Wall Street Journal, signaling his continued strong personal interest in the topic.

Between the lines: There's no evidence that the childhood vaccine schedule in place prior to Trump's second term poses any risk to children's health, including by raising the risk for autism.

• Courts have frozen an administration attempt to pare the federal list of recommended childhood vaccines and otherwise limit who can obtain some shots.
• Vaccine supporters say splitting up the MMR shot by definition requires more doctor visits, raising the chance of missed visits and skipped immunizations.