Cases of measles in the US surpassed 1,000 for just the second time in 30 years this week. Health and Human Services secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr still isn’t taking it seriously.
The deadly and fast-spreading outbreak that first started in western Texas in January has spread to at least 31 states, with 1,001 cases in total reported, according to Friday data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Texas currently has the most cases at 709. Three unvaccinated people have died, including two school-aged children from Texas. Data from the CDC shows that 96% of cases in the US came from people who are unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown. More than 120 people have been hospitalised.
As the onslaught continues, Kennedy ― an anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist who now heads the nation’s top health agency ― has routinely downplayed the deadly spread, including promoting a range of unproven treatments.
After the death of a 6-year-old boy in February, Kennedy said the child’s death was “not unusual.”
“We have measles outbreaks every year,” he said at the time.
But this spread is unlike others the US has previously seen, becoming the second-highest case count in 25 years.
After facing criticism, Kennedy slightly walked back his comments after attending the funeral of an 8-year-old Texas girl who died from measles at the start of April.
“The most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine,” he posted on X.
But since then, Kennedy has continued to downplay the continued spread of measles and the effectiveness of the MMR vaccine, which treats measles, mumps and rubella.
At the end of April, Kennedy baselessly claimed that the measles vaccine “contains a lot of aborted fetus debris and DNA particles.” Less than a week later, he went on a TV appearance to tell parents to “do your own research” on vaccines. Kennedy did not specify any sources parents should look at.
And earlier this month, Kennedy announced the HHS would look into using vitamins as a possible treatment for measles.
The directive comes because Kennedy and department officials “recognize that some individuals and communities across the US may choose not to vaccinate,” HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in a statement.
Kennedy also announced this month that the HHS will now require placebo testing for “all new vaccines.” Health experts warn that the changes could seriously delay a vaccine’s release and lead to making vaccines less accessible. It could also create situations in which someone needing a life-saving vaccine could instead receive a placebo, which is an inert substance that does not contain the vaccine.
“You are watching the gradual dissolution of the vaccine infrastructure in this country,” Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, told The Washington Post. “The goal is to make vaccines less available and less affordable.”
Making matters worse, thousands of workers at the HHS were laid off earlier this year as part of President Donald Trump’s continued purge of civil servants. On Monday, more than a dozen states sued the Trump administration over the firings, arguing that the cuts brought important work at the agency to a “sudden halt.”
Despite Kennedy’s seemingly-lax response to the spread and his continued denigration of vaccines, the CDC still recommends vaccinations as the best way to prevent measles.
“Measles is an airborne, extremely infectious, and potentially severe rash illness,” the CDC’s website says. “Before the measles vaccine was introduced, an estimated 48,000 people were hospitalized and 400–500 people died in the United States each year.”
