Parents who have been told to hold off on the combined measles, mumps, and rubella shot and wait for three separate ones now have a detailed argument for why that trade-off does not work, complete with studies.
Public health scientist Jess Steier, DrPH, has published a point-by-point response in CIDRAP to a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, written by a neurologist, that argued the MMR vaccine should be separated into three shots and that the executive order recommending the same fits with the science. Her conclusion is that splitting the vaccine buys a household more injections, more visits, higher costs, and a longer stretch of incomplete protection, with nothing measured on the other side of the ledger.
