Vaccine critic RFK Jr backs measles jab amid deadly US outbreak

WASHINGTON (March 3): US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, a noted vaccine skeptic, voiced support on Sunday for the measles jab, as an outbreak of the disease spreads in the country’s southwest.

An unvaccinated child died in late February in the state of Texas in the first US fatality from the highly contagious disease in a decade.

Recently confirmed as health secretary, Kennedy has previously made numerous false and misleading claims about the safety of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, and had downplayed the growing outbreak, saying annual outbreaks were “not unusual.”

But on Sunday, Kennedy said he was “deeply concerned about the recent measles outbreak,” in an opinion piece published by Fox News.

“Vaccines not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons,” he wrote.

However, he said “the decision to vaccinate is a personal one,” and urged all parents to “consult with their healthcare providers to understand their options to get the MMR vaccine.”

He said he had directed federal health agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to provide support to Texas health authorities.

The CDC and other health agencies have faced staffing cuts in recent weeks as part of President Donald Trump’s sweeping overhaul of the federal government.

Kennedy said health workers, officials and communities were responsible for “ensuring that accurate information about vaccine safety and efficacy is disseminated” and making “vaccines readily accessible for all those who want them.”

Kennedy has dismissed critics who say he is anti-vaccine, claiming his views were mischaracterized and insisting he was advocating for “common sense” policies.

As of the end of February, more than 160 measles cases were reported across the country, the CDC said, the majority in eastern Texas.

The state’s health department said on Friday that 146 cases had been identified since late January.

Misinformation about vaccines has fueled a nationwide decline in immunization rates, with the latest measles cases concentrated in a Mennonite religious community that has historically shown vaccine hesitancy.

While measles was declared eliminated in the US in 2000, outbreaks persist each year.

Vaccination against the respiratory virus is very effective at conferring lifetime immunity — with two doses estimated to be 97 percent effective. — AFP