As NHS rolls out new 4-in-1 vaccine for babies US officials ditch jab

Health experts have today hit back after US officials controversially voted to overhaul a key childhood jab. 

US health secretary Robert F Kennedy’s handpicked panel, many of whom share his vaccine skepticism, opted to restrict access to a combined MMRV vaccine for measles, mumps, rubella and varicella—chickenpox—for children under four.

Instead, it recommended that children should be offered separate MMR and chickenpox vaccines, over fears the MMRV carried a small risk of causing temporary, non-life-threatening seizures. 

Yet, the move comes less than a month after the NHS announced it would begin vaccinating all babies with the MMRV jab, in the biggest expansion of the childhood immunisation programme for a decade.

At the time experts claimed it would be a ‘life saver’ making chickenpox a problem of the past.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which advises the UK government on vaccination policy, also argued MMRV jab seizures posed a ‘very small increased risk’ that was not of clinical concern. 

Countries that offer the MMRV vaccine, including Germany, Canada and Australia, have all reported a significant drop in chickenpox cases and hospitalisations. 

British health experts today claimed the US panel’s decision risked a surge in cases of serious infection and would instill vaccine fear and distrust among parents. 

Measles cases in the US hit a record high earlier this year, the most since the disease was declared eliminated in the nation in 2000. It also recorded two deaths—both were unvaccinated—marking the first fatalities since 2015.   

Adam Finn, a professor of paediatrics at the University of Bristol, said: ‘The recommendation to give separate MMR and V injections rather than a single combined MMRV reflects prioritisation of prevention of side effects over prevention of disease. 

‘Children given separate vaccines are marginally less likely to experience febrile convulsions—a rare, unpleasant but ultimately harmless consequence of the fever that accompanies the mild infections that the vaccine can cause. 

‘But giving two injections instead of one causes twice the discomfort and distress caused by injections for the child and results in fewer children overall getting protected against all four diseases.

‘A disadvantage both for them and for the programme and so brings an increased risk that cases will continue to occur. 

‘It also means more time and trouble for parents and more work for stretched health services.’

Meanwhile, Dr Ben Kasstan-Dabush, an assistant professor of global health and development at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: ‘There were close to 3,000 laboratory confirmed cases of measles in England in 2024, outbreaks continued into 2025 and led to the death of a child. 

‘Similar patterns have occurred in the US with two child deaths linked to measles.

‘The deaths and majority of these cases of sickness were in unvaccinated children, reminding us that the MMR vaccine has been given to generations of children for over 40 years because of its record of safety and effectiveness.

‘I worry about those parents trying to make sense of diverging public health recommendations at state and federal levels.’

Professor Jonathan Ball, a professor of molecular virology at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, also added: ‘We have a sensible policy in MMRV vaccines, a policy based on evidence not anecdotes.

‘Since it’s production, the MMR vaccine has without doubt saved lives and prevented serious disease, including life changing disease in vulnerable newborns and infants.

‘I am sure our own policy advisors will stay firm and continue to recommend the combined vaccine. 

‘Vaccine hesitancy is a massive problem and mandating the giving of separate doses of each vaccine component will complicate immunisation schedules, increase inconvenience—known to be a big driver in non-uptake—and drive down protection.’

The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) panel’s decision was finalised after voting 8-3 in favour of updating its advice against the use of the vaccine.

But the panel has already drawn extensive criticism, after Kennedy fired its previous members and replaced them with his own handpicked advisers.

Several have little to no documented expertise with vaccines or have criticized them.

Many major medical groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, also opted to sit out of the panel meeting.

‘I think the primary goal of this meeting has already happened, and that was to sow distrust and instill fear among parents and families,’ Dr Sean O’Leary of the American Academy of Pediatrics told reporters.

‘They’ve already done that. Hopefully, that doesn’t gain much traction.’

About one in 3,000 children may have a febrile seizure after they receive the first dose of the MMR vaccine, which immunizes them against mumps, measles and rubella. 

Receiving the MMRV vaccine can trigger an estimated one additional febrile seizure per every 2,300 to 2,600 children.

But giving children the MMR vaccine separately from a vaccine for chickenpox carries its own, higher risks, said Cody Meissner, a professor of pediatrics at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, said during the panel discussion. 

He also noted that while these seizures may be ‘a very frightening experience’ for parents, research has shown they don’t impact brain function or cause problems in school. 

The panel, however, also voted to keep the MMRV vaccine covered by the federal Vaccines for Children program for kids as young as 12 months. 

That means the parents of children eligible for the program will still be able to choose between the single MMRV vaccine or two separate immunisations. 

Dubbed ‘the world’s most infectious disease’, measles, which mostly produces flu-like symptoms and the tell-tale rash, can cause very serious and even fatal health complications if it spreads to the lungs or the brain.

One in five children who get infected will be hospitalised, according to estimates, with one in 15 developing serious complications like meningitis or sepsis.

Later today, the committee will vote on whether to scrap the longstanding standard of immunising newborns against hepatitis B within the first 24 hours of life.

That move has been met with alarm by public health experts, including from some voices on the panel. 

Amending the advice would be a ‘devastating decision’, Dr O’Leary said.

‘This is in the midst of a growing wave of what we’re seeing with rumours, falsehoods, inaccurate information surrounding our country’s immunisation efforts. This committee is illegitimate,’ he added.