Trump's Vaccine Directive Faces Decade-Long Hurdle

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order calling for fewer childhood vaccinations, specifically directing Americans to receive separate measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines. However, this directive faces a significant obstacle: none of the individual shots are licensed in the United States.

The two manufacturers currently licensed to make combined MMR shots, Merck & Co and GSK, have stated that there is no published scientific evidence supporting the separation of the vaccines and decades of evidence supporting the safety of their combined shots. They also pointed out that even under current expedited review pathways, it could take years, potentially as many as 10, to meet the safety and efficacy requirements to obtain FDA approval and begin manufacturing and commercialization.

The CDC and many major medical groups have long recommended the combined vaccine because it reduces the number of injections and lowers the risk that children will miss protection against one of the three diseases. Dr. Andrew Racine, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said although it's possible to separate out the MMR vaccine into its constituent components, each of those different components would have to be manufactured and tested.