Florida pediatricians are pushing back against President Donald Trump’s new executive order calling for major changes to the nation’s childhood vaccination schedule.
Trump signed the order Monday, directing federal health officials to pursue changes including separating the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine into three individual shots and encouraging greater spacing between childhood vaccinations. The order also directs additional research into vaccine safety and calls for states to provide religious and medical exemptions from vaccine requirements. (CF Public)
The controversy intensified after Trump again promoted the claim that vaccines may be connected to autism. Pediatricians and other medical experts say that claim has been repeatedly disproven by decades of research. Dr. Tara Williams, a Florida pediatrician and associate professor of pediatrics in Orlando, said the question of whether vaccines cause autism has effectively been settled by scientific evidence. (CF Public)
Pediatricians warn that spreading out vaccinations could leave children vulnerable to serious diseases for longer periods. Medical groups also argue that splitting combination vaccines into multiple visits could make it harder for families to complete the recommended schedule.
The order represents a significant departure from the recommendations of major medical organizations. The American Academy of Pediatrics and other health experts continue to support vaccination schedules based on extensive safety and effectiveness research. (AP News)
The White House’s directive does not automatically change every state’s school vaccination requirements. States retain substantial authority over which vaccines children must receive to attend school. (WKMG)
The issue is already becoming a political flashpoint in Florida. U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, a Florida Democrat, called the executive order dangerous and said it goes against pediatric experts. (WUSF)
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization defended evidence-based childhood immunization schedules, saying vaccination recommendations are developed from decades of research and are tailored to protect children from serious infectious diseases. (Reuters)
Bottom line: Trump’s order begins a process to change federal vaccine recommendations, but it does not mean Florida children will immediately stop receiving the vaccines currently recommended by their doctors. The biggest immediate issue is the growing divide between the administration’s vaccine policy and the recommendations of mainstream pediatric and public-health organizations.
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