WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday calling for revamped childhood vaccine recommendations. The directive recommends separating the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine into three different shots administered in separate visits.

The executive order directs the nation's health department to improve vaccine research. It also advises states with school vaccine mandates to consider updating their laws to reflect the administration's recommendations.

"Effective immediately, my administration is recognizing gold standard childhood vaccine recommendations for only 11 core vaccinations against the most serious and dangerous diseases, along with the MMR, which hopefully will be split up," Trump said during an Oval Office event. He added that one-year-olds should have their shots separated out into five separate visits.

Trump stated that the combined vaccine poses safety risks. "The MMR we wanted in three separate vaccinations, given at separate times. Together there could be a possibility they’re quite lethal, and separately, it looks like they are not at all lethal, but just very effective. So the MMR we want to have separate separate visits, separate times," he said.

Separate measles, mumps and rubella vaccines for children are not currently available in the U.S. States, not the federal government, have the authority to require vaccinations for schoolchildren. Public health experts have raised concerns that spacing out shots can lead to an increased risk that children become infected with a vaccine-preventable disease before returning for another visit. The United States is currently contending with a measles outbreak that could result in the U.S. losing its measles elimination status.

Scientific consensus and decades of studies have concluded there is no link between childhood vaccines and autism. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. offered a different perspective during the event.

"We’re only noticing it in kids who were born around 1989 or after. The older generations are not seeing those increases. So something happened in the in the mid 90s that changed our children, and it has to be an environmental exposure. You need an environmental toxin," Kennedy said.

Trump addressed parental choice in his remarks. Parents can still choose to give their children all of the vaccinations if they wish, he said.

The signing follows administrative actions taken earlier this year. In December 2025, President Trump ordered the Department of Health and Human Services to review how peer nations approach vaccine recommendations and consider revising U.S. guidance accordingly. The Department of Health and Human Services responded to the December order by cutting the number of vaccines it recommends for every child, a move that has since been blocked in court.

Discussions regarding vaccine research occurred at the highest levels of the administration prior to the order. During a Cabinet meeting last month, he asked Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. "How are you doing on the autism research?" Kennedy replied, "We will have an answer for you." Kennedy has held the position of United States Secretary of Health and Human Services since February 13, 2025.

Why It Matters

The directive challenges existing scientific consensus on vaccine safety while the U.S. faces a measles outbreak threatening its elimination status. Because separate MMR vaccines are not currently available in the U.S. implementing the order requires new manufacturing and logistics. The recommendation to space out shots introduces a window where children remain unprotected against preventable diseases before completing the series. Federal advice to update state school mandate laws tests the boundary between national recommendations and state authority over vaccination requirements.