President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Monday reducing the number of childhood vaccinations from 18 to just 11. The directive also proposes separating the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine into three individual shots administered at different times. Back in January, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reduced the U.S. immunization schedule by eliminating vaccines for six of the 17 covered diseases, but a federal court blocked the change. The new executive order reinstates Kennedy’s overhaul despite the legal case still pending. Republican Senator ​Bill Cassidy of Louisiana criticized the order, saying, “I’m a doctor. This executive order is wrong. The president does not have the expertise to make these changes.” The American Academy of Pediatrics said, “There is no new evidence to justify significant changes to childhood immunization guidance. Dozens of studies involving millions of people show there is no link between vaccines and autism, and yet federal leaders continue to promote this outdated, disproven idea to scare families.” This is President Trump on Monday.

President Donald Trump: “Well, they have a vaccination that looks like the size of a bottle of soda poured into a little child’s body. And bad things happen in many cases — in too many cases, because this is an explosion. This is an epidemic.”