RFK Jr. Says Officials Exploring Feasibility Of Breaking Up MMR Vaccine

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

Federal officials are looking at separating vaccines for the measles and several other diseases into individual shots, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Oct. 29.

“We’re looking at the feasibility of that now,” Kennedy told reporters in Washington after being asked about breaking up the combination measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine.

Kennedy did not offer more details.

“Immunizations for measles, mumps, and rubella would be best administered as three separate vaccines,” a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) told The Epoch Times in an email. “Standalone vaccinations can potentially reduce the risk of side effects and can maximize parental choice in childhood immunizations.”

President Donald Trump in September called for people to take separate shots against measles, mumps, and rubella. No individual shots against those diseases are currently available in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is part of HHS.

After Trump on Oct. 6 again said on social media that the MMR vaccine should be given in separate shots, acting CDC Director and Deputy HHS Secretary Jim O’Neill boosted the post and urged vaccine manufacturers to act.

He said the new shots should be safe and monovalent, or targeting one virus.

Merck, one of the manufacturers, has said it opposes separating combination vaccines because people are more likely to complete vaccine series with combination shots.

GlaxoSmithKline, the other manufacturer of the MMR vaccine, has not responded to requests for comment.

That same day, O’Neill signed off on recommendations from the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel, including a recommendation that the CDC stop recommending another combination vaccine to younger children.

The CDC no longer advises that children under 4 receive the measles, mumps, rubella, varicella vaccine. Instead, it recommends only the MMR vaccine, as well as a separate shot for varicella, for that age group.

The panel issued its advice to the CDC after reviewing data that indicate younger children faced an elevated risk of febrile seizures following receipt of the four-antigen vaccine.

The panel was slated to meet again in October, but that meeting has been postponed indefinitely.

The CDC says either the MMR vaccine or the other measles combination shot is good for children 4 and older.

The CDC’s vaccine schedule lists two doses of vaccines against measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella, commonly known as chickenpox. The first dose is recommended around 1 year of age. The second dose is advised for children 4 to 6.

Most states require measles and varicella vaccination for school, based on the schedule.

Nationwide, more than 90 percent of children have received an MMR vaccine, according to CDC data.

Kennedy has previously said that people should receive the MMR vaccine, describing it as “the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles.”

The number of measles cases in the United States over the summer reached the most in a year since 1992. Outbreaks are ongoing in South Carolina and several other states.