About this episode:

Since 1971, combination mumps, measles, and rubella vaccines have protected American children against life-threatening infection. Recent calls to split the MMR vaccines into three separate injections could unravel decades of progress. In this episode: William Moss details the history of MMR vaccines and the public health dangers posed by changing immunization recommendations without scientific justification to do so.

Guests:

Dr. William Moss, MPH, is an infectious disease specialist and the executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Host:

Stephanie Desmon, MA, is a former journalist, author, and the director of public relations and communications for the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs.

Show links and related content:

• Acting CDC director calls for MMR vaccine to be broken up into three shots—STAT

• What to Know About MMR and MMRV Vaccines—Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

• The MMR vaccines has been combined for decades… and for good reason—@johnshopkinssph via Instagram

• Vaccines 101: Understanding the Vaccines on the Childhood Vaccination Schedule—Public Health On Call (March 2025)

Transcript information:

Looking for episode transcripts? Open our podcast on the Apple Podcasts app (desktop or mobile) or the Spotify mobile app to access an auto-generated transcript of any episode. Closed captioning is also available for every episode on our YouTube channel.

Contact us:

Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website.

Follow us:

• @‌PublicHealthPod on Bluesky

• @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Instagram

• @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Facebook

• @‌PublicHealthOnCall on YouTube

• Here's our RSS feed

Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.