What does the medical community think of President Trump’s executive order to split the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine across three separate visits? LSU Health professor Dr. Corey Hebert notes that the MMR vaccine, which has been administered as a combined dose since 1971, isn’t even available as separate vaccines in the U.S., but this executive order may pave the way for them to be available separately.
“People have been wanting to have these separated for a while. I have patients that come to me and say, ‘I want them separated.’ I said, ‘Well, I can’t really separate them because I can’t get them that way yet,"” Hebert noted.
But Dr. Hebert notes that by separating them, you go from getting two shots – one at 12 months and one at four years – to getting six shots. And he says there’s no guarantee that separating them will provide any benefit.
“Do they work? Sure; individually they work. Do they work better? That’s never been proven. Do they work worse? Are they more dangerous? We don’t have that either,” Hebert asked.
One concern among a select few people is that vaccines involve injecting into the body a tiny amount of the virus that it’s intended to immunize against. Hebert says combining the MMR Vaccine reduces that amount of virus even more.
“When you have the combined vaccine, it’s a very, very small amount that’s attached to a carrier protein that is big. So you don’t actually get a lot of the stuff that people think you get,” Hebert explained.
It’s important to note that Trump’s executive order is merely a recommendation and is not legally binding. All vaccine requirements for things like registering kids for public school are all established at the state level.