Washington, August 11, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
US President Donald Trump has recommended replacing the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine with three separate shots as part of a sweeping overhaul of the country’s childhood immunisation policy.
The recommendation will take effect once individual vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella are available domestically. Until then, the combined MMR vaccine will continue to be available.
Under an executive order, the administration has also recommended that childhood vaccines be administered during separate medical visits “to the maximum extent feasible”. The White House said the changes were intended to give parents greater control over the timing and frequency of vaccinations.
The order directs the Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary to develop options for administering core childhood vaccines individually rather than through combination products, beginning with the MMR vaccine.
HHS has been given 90 days to submit its plans to the President through the White House domestic policy adviser. The department may work with private companies and foreign governments to facilitate the availability of individual vaccines.
The order, however, guarantees continued access to combination vaccines as well as immunisations recommended through shared clinical decision-making between parents and healthcare providers.
The MMR recommendation is part of the administration’s new “Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations”, which reduces the number of diseases for which routine vaccination is recommended for all children from 18 under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2024 schedule to 11.
The 11 include measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Haemophilus influenzae type B, pneumococcal disease, human papillomavirus and chickenpox, or varicella.
Other vaccines have been placed into categories for children at higher risk or those requiring shared decisions between parents and clinicians.
Vaccines or immunisations for respiratory syncytial virus, hepatitis A and B, meningococcal disease and dengue are among those listed for high-risk groups, while influenza and Covid-19 vaccines are included under shared clinical decision-making.
The administration said the new framework was based on a January 2026 HHS scientific assessment comparing US childhood immunisation recommendations with those of other developed countries.
According to the White House, the assessment found that the US recommended more childhood vaccines than any other peer country and more than twice as many doses as some European nations. It identified 11 vaccines that it said were consistently recommended across the countries examined.
Apart from separating combination vaccines, HHS has been directed to review the timing and sequencing of core childhood immunisations and may revise the federal childhood and adolescent vaccine schedule based on its findings.
The department has also been asked to explore alternatives to aluminium-based adjuvants, conduct comparative safety and efficacy studies, continually assess vaccine risks and benefits using US and international data, and strengthen vaccine safety monitoring, research and transparency.
Federal agencies have been directed to review the recommendations and take appropriate steps to implement them, while states and territories have been advised to consider changes to vaccination requirements for school enrolment and attendance.
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