Symbolic imageHong Kong urges parents not to delay shots after US cuts vaccine schedule
A US executive order cuts the childhood vaccines federal agencies recommend from 17 diseases to 11 and lengthens the gaps between doses. Hong Kong's health authority pushed back on Tuesday.
Trump signed the order on Monday, 10 August; it also splits the combined measles, mumps and rubella shot into single injections. According to FAZ, vaccines against hepatitis A and B, Covid-19, rotavirus, meningococcal, RSV and influenza, and per the South China Morning Post also dengue, are no longer recommended for all children but only for certain high-risk groups. Trump said the MMR shot could be deadly and, asked by a reporter for evidence, said there was none; he repeated the disproven claim linking measles vaccination to autism and pointed to European practice. Parents could still choose all vaccines, he said.
Hong Kong defends its own programme
The Centre for Health Protection said on Tuesday that health policy must rest on scientific evidence and that vaccination schedules should not be altered arbitrarily without reliable data, citing irreversible risks to children. Its own programme covers 11 diseases from birth to Primary Six.
What the evidence says
FAZ notes single MMR vaccines are not currently available in the US and that the Cochrane Collaboration found no higher autism rate among children vaccinated against measles.
Other opinions
SCMP frames the order around Hong Kong's own programme and leaves aside Trump's autism claim, which FAZ centres on.