Vaccine critic RFK Jr. backs measles vaccine amid lethal Texas outbreak

Well being and Human Providers Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a famous vaccine skeptic, voiced assist for the measles vaccine Sunday amid a lethal outbreak within the Southwest, primarily in Texas.

An unvaccinated baby who died in late February in Texas was the primary U.S. fatality from the extremely contagious illness in a decade.

Just lately confirmed as well being secretary, Kennedy has beforehand made quite a few false and deceptive claims concerning the security of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and had downplayed the rising outbreak, saying annual outbreaks have been “common.”

However on Sunday, Kennedy mentioned he was “deeply involved concerning the latest measles outbreak,” in an opinion piece printed by Fox Information.

“Vaccines not solely defend particular person youngsters from measles, but in addition contribute to group immunity, defending those that are unable to be vaccinated because of medical causes,” he wrote.

Nevertheless, he mentioned, “The choice to vaccinate is a private one,” and he urged all mother and father to “seek the advice of with their healthcare suppliers to know their choices to get the MMR vaccine.”

He mentioned he had directed federal well being companies, together with the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, to offer assist to Texas well being authorities.

The CDC and different well being companies have confronted staffing cuts in latest weeks as a part of President Trump’s sweeping overhaul of the federal authorities.

Kennedy mentioned well being staff, officers and communities have been accountable for “guaranteeing that correct details about vaccine security and efficacy is disseminated” and making “vaccines readily accessible for all those that need them.”

Kennedy has dismissed critics who say he’s anti-vaccine, claiming his views have been mischaracterized and insisting he was advocating for “widespread sense” insurance policies.

Kennedy wrote within the piece, “The present Texas outbreak has predominantly affected youngsters, with 116 of the 146 circumstances occurring in people underneath 18 years of age. The DSHS studies that 79 of the confirmed circumstances concerned people who had not obtained the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, whereas 62 circumstances had unknown vaccine standing. At the least 5 had obtained an MMR vaccine.”

Dr. Céline Gounder, CBS Information medical contributor and editor-at-large for public well being at KFF Well being Information, mentioned lately on “CBS Mornings” that even a slight dip in vaccination protection can result in outbreaks.

“This can be a measles outbreak that started in a really close-knit, rural, Mennonite group that has very low vaccination charges. And sadly, we’ve got seen vaccination charges exemptions … actually soar in Texas lately,” she mentioned. 

Final month, Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious illness doctor and senior scholar at Johns Hopkins, advised CBS Information the outbreak in Texas was “troubling, as a result of this was fully preventable.”

He identified that Texas “has the bottom vaccination charges, the best faculty exemption charges from measles vaccination — having a measles outbreak, together with hospitalizations of people who’ve been contaminated with measles.” Adalja mentioned it ought to act as a reminder that measles continues to be a danger when correct precautions aren’t taken.

Whereas measles was declared eradicated within the U.S. in 2000, outbreaks proceed to erupt every year.

Vaccination towards the respiratory virus is superb at conferring lifetime immunity, with two doses estimated to be 97% efficient, in line with the CDC.