A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
President Trump is once again trying to dramatically change the way pediatricians vaccinate American children against infectious diseases. NPR health correspondent Rob Stein has the story.
ROB STEIN, BYLINE: Trump has repeatedly tried to scramble the way kids get shots to protect them against potentially life-threatening diseases like measles, mumps and polio. But those attempts have been stymied in court. Nevertheless, the president is trying yet again, claiming again during an Oval Office signing of a new executive order that vaccines can cause autism.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I came in, and I said, I want to find what's going on with autism. It's many, many times what it used to be years ago. And it gets progressively worse, and we add progressively more and more vaccines.
STEIN: Now, most medical authorities say there is overwhelming scientific evidence debunking any link between vaccines and autism. But Trump's new order calls for cutting the number of childhood vaccines recommended by the federal government from 17 to 11 and breaking up the MMR vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella, into separate shots that would be given in separate doctors' visits.
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TRUMP: Large amounts of - like, vats of vaccine are currently pumped into your child's body. And we're doing 20% of that.
STEIN: Medical experts point out that only very small amounts of vaccine are actually given to kids, and even that has decreased over the years as scientists refined immunizations. They stress that there is clear evidence that vaccines are very safe and effective. Dr. Aaron Milstone is with the American Academy of Pediatrics.
AARON MILSTONE: Why would we not give children a vaccine that is safe, that prevents death? We had two healthy children die in the United States in the last year from measles virus, so we're suggesting that you continue to give children a vaccine that has decades of safety data.
STEIN: Same goes with all the other vaccines kids get. But anti-vaccine activists welcome Trump's persistence. Brian Hooker is the chief scientific officer at Children's Health Defense.
BRIAN HOOKER: I'm very, very encouraged by this particular step in the administration. Too many vaccines are given too soon.
STEIN: Many legal experts question whether the latest order is any more legitimate than previous efforts, which were blocked by a federal judge in Boston.
Rob Stein, NPR News.
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