Drugmakers uninterested in Trump’s order to split up MMR vaccine

President Trump’s executive order recommending that the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine be split up across three appointments is drawing poor reception from the pharmaceutical industry as drugmakers and trade groups say there’s no scientific reasoning to follow the directive. 

The administration did not provide any new scientific data to support splitting up the shot, and drug groups were quick to decry the order in light of the climbing measles rate in the U.S. — the highest in more than 30 years. 

Splitting up the MMR vaccine into separate doses would likely entail six visits to complete a full schedule — as opposed to the two doses the combined vaccine is currently administered in. 

“At a time when measles outbreaks are already threatening communities across the country, making vaccination more complicated and burdensome risks further reducing vaccination rates and leaving more children vulnerable to a highly contagious and potentially deadly disease,” said Dr. Ronald G. Nahass, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, in a statement. 

Trump argued last week that “nothing bad can happen” from breaking up the shots. But critics argued that splitting up the vaccines would incur higher costs for families, which would have to pay several more co-pays for the added clinic visits, and they noted compliance would likely go down as patients would become more likely to miss appointments. 

The combined MMR vaccine was first developed in 1971. 

There are two major manufacturers of the MMR vaccine in the U.S.: Merck and GSK. Bringing three........

© The Hill