WASHINGTON — President Trump on Monday described the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, commonly known as the MMR shot, as potentially “quite lethal,” while pressing for the three immunizations to be given separately in what he suggested could lower a possible autism risk.
The president made the remarks in the Oval Office as he signed an executive order with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, a move intended to formalize the CDC’s January guidance recommending 11 childhood vaccines, reduced from 17.
“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.
Trump said he wants the MMR series broken into three separate shots administered at different appointments. “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 also criticized the number of vaccines children may receive, saying that “they have a vaccination thing looks like the size of a bottle of soda poured into a little child’s body, and bad things happen in many too many cases.”
Trump emphasized that parents would still be free to follow a broader vaccination schedule if they choose. “Parents can still choose to give their children all of the vaccinations if they wish,” he said. “There are some groups that have virtually no problem with autism, and they, you know, I have to say this: they they’re groups that aren’t big into the world of vaccines.”
Kennedy, who has long questioned vaccine safety, did not directly say whether he believes vaccines cause autism.
Instead, Kennedy argued that rising autism rates point to an outside factor. “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,” he said. “You need an environmental toxin.”
