FOR THE WEEK OF MAY 04, 2026

U.S. health secretary changes tone on childhood measles shots

The measles vaccine is safe and effective "for most people," the president's top health official now says. That's a switch by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who wanted to overhaul national vaccine policy and last year appointed vaccine skeptics to replace a committee of advisers. He aldso had said getting shots should be "a personal choice" and told parents: "Do your own research.”

The Cabinet member's stance has changed. "We promote the MMR," he told a Senate committee recently, referring to a combined immunization for measles, mumps and rubella. "We have advised every child to get the [shot]." Kennedy acknowledged that it might have saved of two unvaccinated children who died of measles in Texas this year. His turnabout came as the president named a new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) who embraces vaccination as an important precaution against risky diseases like measles.

Measles was officially eliminated from the U.S.in 2000, thanks to widespread vaccines and state requirements as a condition of school enrollment. But in recent years, the potentially deadly disease has surged as anti-vaccine groups cited a 1998 study linking the vaccine to autism. The research was later retracted and its British author lost his medical license, but the damage had been done. Thousands of parents received exemptions from state mandates. Over 1,800 measles cases are confirmed so far in 2026, the CDC says. That's up from about 70 per year in the early 2000s. Last year, the total approached 2,300 and three children died.

"Parents should know just how dangerous this disease is," a British mom wrote recently in The New York Times, recounting her 11-year-old daughter's death from a long-term complication. Measles can can swell the brain and cause permanent disabilities or death.

U.S. health secretary says: "The measles vaccine prevents measles in 97% of the people who take it. . . . That's what the science says.'" – Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at Senate hearing April 22

Senator says: "I applaud the [new] CDC director. She seems to be a qualified person. . . . [But]there are currently political appointees at CDC who have worked to undermine trust and immunizations." -- Bill Cassify, Republican from Louisiana

Mom says: "Parents must realize that refusing vaccinations doesn't just put your own child at risk. It puts other children at risk. . . . It's one of the most contagious viruses that exists." -- Rebecca Archer of England, whose vaccinated child Renae died in 2023 from a measles after-effect

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