Gov. Janet Mills said Maine’s vaccine guidance remains unchanged following President Donald Trump’s executive order on childhood vaccine recommendations.
More than half a dozen health organizations in Maine are also criticizing Trump’s action, saying his revisions are based on politics, not science, and make children less safe.
Trump’s order calls for dropping universal recommendations for some vaccines and for separating the combined measles, mumps, rubella vaccine into single shots.
Maine Medical Association President Dr. James Jarvis said the changes defy extensive evidence that supports the safety of vaccines, and don’t make fiscal or practical sense.
“You’re now talking about double, tripling or quadrupling the number of office visits in order for us to get vaccines,” Jarvis said. “That’s not going to happen. And all that means is that the child’s going to be more susceptible to these very preventable and deadly diseases.”
The order also directs the Department of Justice to pursue legal action against states, including Maine, that don’t allow philosophical exemptions for childhood vaccines.
Jarvis said measles cases nationwide have reached a 35-year high, which he attributes to vaccine hesitancy.
Other organizations that oppose the changes under Trump’s executive order include the Maine Academy of Family Physicians, Maine Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Maine Academy of Physician Associates, the Maine Nurse Practitioner Association, Maine Osteopathic Association and Maine Public Health Association. They encourage families to speak with clinicians about vaccines.
This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.