CDC panel recommends splitting childhood vaccines into multiple shots
A US Centers for Disease Control vaccines advisory panel has voted to recommend separate vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox instead of a single combined jab.
The advisory committee on immunisation practices (ACIP) shifted from recommending the combined MMRV vaccine to separate MMR and chickenpox doses.
The move has raised concerns about compliance and children’s health.
Cody Meissner, professor of paediatrics at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and committee member, warned that splitting vaccines could reduce uptake.
“It’s a very frightening experience, but I think people are very comfortable in saying that a febrile seizure is not associated with any sort of impaired performance or neurocognitive development or school problems,” Meissner told the panel.
“The disadvantage of giving two doses or, as was suggested, separating the two doses is that we know compliance falls.
“And the advantage of combination vaccines is that children and adults are more likely to complete the vaccine.”
The committee’s recommendations guide which vaccines are supplied free through the US government, shape state and local requirements, and influence insurance coverage.
Previously, the panel recommended the MMRV vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox (varicella) in one injection, though parents could still choose separate vaccines. Under the new guidance, children should receive an MMR vaccine plus a separate chickenpox dose.
The panel voted not to alter vaccines provided free to low-income families through the Vaccines for Children programme, sparking outcry and confusion among several members, who at times seemed unsure about the meaning of their votes.
The advisers discussed febrile seizures – brief convulsions affecting two to five per cent of young children, but with no lasting damage.
About one in 3,000 children may have a febrile seizure after the first MMR dose.
The MMRV vaccine is estimated to trigger one additional seizure for every 2,300 to 2,600 children.
Many major medical groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, opted to sit out of the panel meeting.
The diseases covered by these vaccines can be serious.
During the 1960s rubella outbreak, more than 2,000 newborns died. Before the measles vaccine was introduced in the 1960s, there were 48,000 annual hospitalisations.
Before the chickenpox vaccine arrived in the 1990s, more than 10,000 were hospitalised each year.
Some advisers argued parents were not given enough information on risks and benefits, offering mainly anecdotal evidence.
Robert Malone, one of Kennedy’s appointees who has worked on mRNA technology, said: “A significant population of the United States has significant concerns about vaccine policy and vaccine mandates.”
“I think families are very concerned. I think there’s an increased hesitancy through all families right now,” added Kirk Milhoan, a paediatric cardiologist who has questioned Covid vaccines and is a senior fellow at an organisation that promoted ivermectin for Covid.
“And I think that that’s what we’re here to do, is try to give them the best risks-benefits of these things as we can.”
A University of Pennsylvania Annenberg Public Policy Center survey found 70 per cent of adults support MMR vaccine mandates in schools – up from 63 per cent in 2023.
Another study showed hepatitis B vaccine refusals for newborns fell between 2017 and 2022.
The committee will meet again on Friday, focusing on Covid vaccines and two votes on hepatitis B vaccine timing – an incurable infection that can lead to liver disease and death.
The votes were delayed from Wednesday after committee chair Martin Kulldorff noted “slight discrepancies” in the draft wording.
