USA: CDC panel recommends multiple shots for measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox instead of single vaccine

A powerful vaccines committee for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) voted on Thursday to change US vaccine policy and start recommending that children receive multiple vaccines to protect against measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox, instead of a single vaccine that can protect against all four diseases.

The new recommendations from the panel, the advisory committee on immunization practices (ACIP), arrived just a day after top former CDC officials said Robert F Kennedy Jr was a threat to US children’s ability to receive vaccines on schedule. The committee’s work typically determines which vaccines are provided free of charge through the US government, shapes state and local laws around vaccine requirements, and influences which vaccines health insurers tend to cover.

Previously, the panel had recommended that children receive the MMRV vaccine, which offers combined protections against measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox, which is also known as varicella. Parents could still choose to immunize their children through multiple vaccines. Under the committee’s new recommendations, children should receive multiple vaccines: one vaccine that guards against measles, mumps and rubella, which is known as the MMR vaccine, and a separate vaccine that immunizes them against chickenpox.

However, the committee also voted not to change the vaccines that are provided free to low-income children through a US government program called Vaccines for Children. That discrepancy sparked outcry and confusion among several members of the committee, who at times seemed unsure about the meaning of their votes.

The panel has already drawn extensive criticism, as Kennedy, who leads the Department of Health and Human Services and has repeatedly questioned the safety of vaccines, fired its previous members and replaced them with his own handpicked advisers. Several of his advisers have little to no documented expertise with vaccines or have criticised them.

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Source: The Guardian, 18 September 2025