President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday calling for childhood vaccines to be spaced out into separate medical visits, the Associated Press reported.
The order advocates separating the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine into three different single-disease shots. It calls for all childhood immunizations to be given at separate appointments whenever possible.
It also calls on the federal health department to improve research on vaccines and to offer a plan for separate measles, mumps and rubella vaccines for children, which is not currently an option in the U.S.
Trump said the order is “a major victory for parents rights, religious and constitutional rights, and for the gold standard of science.”
Public health experts have raised concerns that spacing out shots can expose children to an increased risk of infection.
