Measles Vaccination Is an Imperative, Not a Personal Choice: RFK Jr.’s HHS Must Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today announced that 1,288 confirmed measles cases have been reported by 39 states, with nearly six months remaining in the year. The total is the largest single-year total since 2000, when the United States declared measles eliminated. Ninety-two percent of confirmed cases occurred in people who had not been vaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status. 162 people were hospitalized, and three people are confirmed to have died.
Public Citizen Health Research Group Director Dr. Robert Steinbrook issued the following statement:
“Measles is a dangerous and potentially deadly disease that is nearly entirely preventable through vaccination. It is shameful that the United States has already had more confirmed measles cases in 2025 than in any year since 2000. The confirmed cases are mostly outbreak-associated and underestimate the true number of cases that have occurred.”
“Instead of undermining public confidence in vaccines, as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and his handpicked Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices continue to do, the Department of Health and Human Services and the CDC must act as public health agencies and do everything within their power to markedly increase measles vaccination rates across the country.”