Washington D.C. — By July, measles cases in the U.S. had already reached the highest level in 35 years, blowing past last year’s historic total. Today, new CDC data reveals the latest troubling milestone: confirmed cases now exceed 5,000 across 45 states this year, 96% of which among the unvaccinated or of unknown vaccination status. The Trump CDC still refuses to acknowledge the 8 measles-related deaths so far this year, three of which were reported just in the last week in New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
As the measles crisis continues to spiral out of control, Donald Trump and his health secretary RFK Jr. have done nothing but throw gas on the fire: pushing an executive order designed to make the life-saving measles vaccine (MMR) less accessible and more expensive; and stoking more unfounded fear in vaccine safety, including frothy-mouthed anti-vax speeches and schemes to bribe doctors to report vaccine injuries without any standard of proof.
“The Trump White House is ground zero for this historic measles crisis,” said Kayla Hancock, Director of Protect Our Care’s Public Health Project. “For months, RFK Jr has played down the mounting consequences of the administration’s anti-vax agenda, going so far as burying reported measles deaths. The more measles cases are reported, the further the administration digs in their heels against the solution: a full-scale federal effort to vaccinate Americans against the disease. Trump and RFK Jr would rather scare parents than protect children. They keep right on spreading debunked lies about the MMR shot and getting more kids needlessly hospitalized by the day. Kennedy should have resigned in disgrace long ago, but his ego is immune to shame and accepting responsibility. With the incoming Democratic Congress that actually trusts science and wants to eliminate measles once and for all, Kennedy’s impeachment may be the only way out of this mess.”
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