I Want More Needles, Said Nobody Ever

Hook

“I want more needles,” said nobody ever.

Yet here we are — watching a fresh wave of politicians and pundits argue that the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine should be split back into three separate shots.
Because… freedom? purity? nostalgia for 1950?

Context

This isn’t a new idea. It’s a resurrected zombie from the 1990s — the same argument that rode in on the now-discredited Wakefield paper falsely linking MMR to autism.
That study was retracted. The author lost his medical license.
The data didn’t hold up, the funding was corrupt, and the premise was dead.
And yet, decades later, the myth still lurches around because outrage is profitable.

The science didn’t change. The marketing did.

Your Take

Splitting the MMR is a solution in search of a problem.
The combined vaccine has been used safely for more than fifty years, in billions of doses, across every major health system in the world.
Every attempt to separate it has one outcome: lower coverage and more outbreaks.

So when public figures pretend this is about “choice,” they’re not protecting children — they’re protecting clicks.

If you really wanted to overload the immune system, you’d start by exposing it to social media.

Implications

Every minute spent re-litigating this nonsense is a minute not spent fixing what actually matters — collapsing public-health funding, declining trust, and the spread of preventable disease.

Combination vaccines exist because medicine learned from history: make it simple, safe, and accessible, and people stay protected.
Undo that, and we go backward — back to three needles, three appointments, and three times the chance to miss one.

FAQ

Q: So why do people keep bringing it up?
A: Because fear is easier to sell than nuance, and outrage travels faster than science.

Q: Would separate shots be safer?
A: No. The combined version has identical safety and immune response — the only difference is more pain, more cost, and lower coverage.

Q: How long has MMR been in use?
A: Since 1971. It’s older than most of the conspiracy theories about it.

Further Reading

• Why Combination Vaccines Exist
• Vaccine Myths and Facts
• CDC: MMR Vaccine Safety

Closing

The debate isn’t about needles.
It’s about trust — and whether we still value evidence over performance.

Because if the goal is more needles, more visits, and more outbreaks —
congratulations. We’re inventing failure on purpose.