{"id":3667,"date":"2026-08-12T18:32:46","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T18:32:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3667"},"modified":"2026-08-12T18:32:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T18:32:46","slug":"doctors-say-trumps-vaccine-order-will-raise-fears-cause-confusion-and-endanger-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3667","title":{"rendered":"Doctors say Trump\u2019s vaccine order will raise fears, cause confusion and endanger kids"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Getting your Trinity Audio player ready…<\/strong><\/div>\n
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By LAURA UNGAR, AP Medical Writer<\/strong><\/p>\n

Doctors say President Donald Trump\u2019s new executive order on vaccines is misguided and likely to stoke fear and confusion among parents at a time when measles is raging, immunization rates are falling and children are heading back to school.<\/p>\n

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\u201cMany families are finishing up that back-to-school checklist, and among those things is the medical checkup and assuring that their kids have their vaccines,\u201d Michigan pediatrician Dr. Molly O\u2019Shea said. \u201cTo put into question the safety or efficacy of these vaccines right now is really unfortunate and ill-conceived.\u201d<\/p>\n

The order, signed Monday, advocates separating the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine into three different single-disease shots and giving all childhood immunizations at separate appointments when possible. It also includes several changes to the childhood vaccine schedule already attempted by Trump\u2019s health department but blocked by a federal judge. The department is run by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who helped lead the anti-vaccine movement for years.<\/p>\n

Trump repeatedly suggested the number or timing of vaccines could play a role in rising rates of autism spectrum disorder, even though decades of studies have firmly concluded there is no link. He also strongly suggested that the MMR vaccine could be harmful or even deadly.<\/p>\n

Dr. Paul Offit, a Children\u2019s Hospital of Philadelphia vaccine researcher and former government adviser, said the recommendations by Trump and Kennedy \u201care just not science based,\u201d and it\u2019s irresponsible to cast doubt on a vaccine that protects against measles when the nation is facing its biggest epidemic in more than 30 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe harm that it will cause is \u2026 to induce chaos and confusion into the system, so people aren\u2019t sure what they\u2019re supposed to do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s order evokes fears<\/h4>\n

At one point before signing his executive order, Trump used the word \u201clethal\u201d when talking about the current MMR vaccine, saying: \u201cTogether there could be a possibility they are quite lethal and separately, it looks like they are not at all lethal but just very effective.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Doctors strongly rejected this characterization, saying the current combination vaccine has gone through rigorous studies and years of safety tracking \u2014 like other childhood vaccines \u2014 and has been shown to be very safe. The diseases they protect against are the far bigger risk, they said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe suggestion that separating the measles, mumps and rubella vaccines one from another has value is incorrect in both science and in immune response,\u201d O\u2019Shea said. \u201cYou actually get a better immune response giving them together. There\u2019s no value in separating them.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are currently no separate vaccines for children against these diseases in the U.S., but Trump\u2019s order directs the health department to present a plan to offer them. Trump spokesperson Kush Desai has said that would give parents more options on timing and frequency, ultimately increasing vaccine uptake.<\/p>\n

Doctors lamented that Trump revived debunked theories about vaccines and autism. Autism diagnoses have been rising for decades, with a recent count finding that an estimated 1 in 31 children in the U.S. have autism spectrum disorder. Scientists say that\u2019s in part because the definition has broadened with expanded understanding of its wide range of traits and symptoms. There\u2019s no single cause, they say, and genetic and environmental factors can play a role.<\/p>\n

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Dr. Andrew Racine, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said the potential link between childhood vaccines and autism has been studied in dozens of well-designed studies around the globe and there is \u201cunequivocally\u201d no link.<\/p>\n

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The fact Trump raised the issue, O\u2019Shea said, \u201cis really misguided and unfair to families.\u201d<\/p>\n

Competing vaccine schedules raise confusion<\/h4>\n

Trump\u2019s comments and his order also cause confusion about which vaccines to give children and when, doctors said.<\/p>\n

In the first year of Trump\u2019s term, Kennedy set out to overhaul immunization guidance, firing a 17-member vaccine advisory committee and installing replacements who made the restrictive recommendations halted by a federal judge. Those recommendations call for injections against 11 diseases, with additional vaccines separately categorized for at-risk children or as available through \u201cshared decision-making\u201d with a doctor.<\/p>\n

The pediatrics academy, meanwhile, continued to recommend vaccines to protect against 18 diseases in its 2026 immunization schedule. O\u2019Shea said that schedule \u201chas been very well designed, carefully constructed and thoughtfully put together to provide safety and protection just as the baby or young child\u2019s immune system is ready to accept it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doctors said insurance coverage shouldn\u2019t be an issue. Medicaid and CHIP continue to cover the vaccines recommended before the current Trump administration took office. Through 2027, private health insurance plans generally will too, said Chris Regal of AHIP, the national health insurers\u2019 trade association.<\/p>\n

Doctors say vaccine hesitancy, and dangers to kids, could grow<\/h4>\n

With confusion and fear rising, Racine said pediatricians expect to answer more questions from parents.<\/p>\n

But many doctors fear vaccine hesitancy may still keep increasing. Federal data shows U.S. kindergarten vaccination rates have been dropping, with the share of children with exemptions hitting an all-time high in the 2024-25 school year.<\/p>\n

Experts said they worry about families skipping necessary vaccines for their children or spacing out shots, since a vaccine-preventable disease could strike between doctor visits.<\/p>\n

\u201cParents deserve clear, evidence-based guidance about how to protect their children, not competing recommendations issued through political processes,\u201d said Michael Osterholm, a University of Minnesota expert on infectious diseases. \u201cWhen families receive conflicting messages, confidence in vaccination suffers, and children ultimately bear the consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Medical writer Mike Stobbe and video journalist Mary Conlon contributed.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute\u2019s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Doctors worry President Donald Trump\u2019s executive order on vaccines will stoke fear and confusion among parents at when measles is raging.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3666,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-politics","category-news","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nDoctors say Trump\u2019s vaccine order will raise fears, cause confusion and endanger kids - Colorado Springs Moverss<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3667\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Doctors say Trump\u2019s vaccine order will raise fears, cause confusion and endanger kids - 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