Do you care as little for science as you do democracy?

In a post on his social media platform last month, President Donald Trump argued for breaking up the combined vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella “into three totally separate shots,” having children vaccinated separately against chicken pox and not vaccinating people younger than 12 against hepatitis B so that America’s children would “take vaccine in 5 separate medical visits.” That the president was making such a suggestion was bad enough — in part because there are no vaccines in the U.S. that guard against only measles or only mumps or only rubella. But this week, acting CDC Director Jim O’Neill echoed Trump’s statement and posted on X, “I call on vaccine manufacturers to develop safe monovalent vaccines to replace the combined MMR and ‘break up the MMR shot into three totally separate shots.’” O’Neill is in his position after his successor as director, Susan Monarez, was fired because, her attorney says, she clashed with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and “refused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts.” The current MMR vaccine is safe and effective, according to the CDC, and offers 93% protection against measles with one shot and 97% protection with two shots. There is no scientific basis to separate the vaccines, and no research has shown any compelling evidence to suggest they should be separated. Splitting the vaccines apart would be an unscientific, reckless directive, and Trump and O’Neill pushing for it amounts to medical malpractice. Science and democracy are under assault on your watch.