Trump proposes splitting some childhood vaccines into five separate doses

President Donald Trump said Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, in the Oval Office, that his administration will recommend splitting some childhood vaccines into five separate doses, each about 20 percent of the usual amount and given six months apart. He did not name which ones. Trump said there is no reason to give some shots so early, that vaccine size would be much less, and that he thinks the change will bring a massive reduction in autism. The remarks follow an Aug. 10, 2026 executive order calling for spacing childhood vaccines and splitting MMR into three single-disease shots at separate visits, though separate MMR shots are not available in the U.S. The order said the U.S. recommends more childhood vaccines than peer nations and directed the attorney general to support challenges to state vaccination laws. A federal judge had temporarily blocked an earlier schedule overhaul. On Thursday Kennedy addressed a Children's Health Defense conference and received a standing ovation. Dr. Paul Offit called the five-dose plan buffoonery that would not work or protect children, saying vaccines are a drop in the ocean of what infants manage daily. Dr. Dean Blumberg said delayed shots leave children vulnerable longer. Science finds no vaccine-autism link; which vaccines would be split remains open.