US measles outbreaks and Kennedy’s evolving stance spark debate amid declining vaccination rates

The first US measles death in eight years, coupled with rising cases and Kennedy’s shifting comments, underscores the urgent need to address vaccine misinformation amid increasing outbreaks.

A six-year-old girl in Texas died of measles last year after her parents initially assumed she would recover as her siblings had done, only taking her to hospital when breathing became difficult. She was not vaccinated and came from a community with long-standing distrust of vaccines. Her death was the first measles fatality in the United States since 2015, and it has become a stark reminder of how quickly the disease can turn deadly when immunisation rates are too low.

That backdrop gives added weight to the latest public comments from Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the US health secretary and for years one of the country’s most prominent anti-vaccine campaigners. On CNN’s State of the Union, Kennedy was pressed repeatedly on whether parents should vaccinate their children against measles. He answered: “Yes.” For supporters of vaccination, it was his clearest endorsement yet of the MMR jab, even if it sat awkwardly alongside his long history of scepticism.

The shift comes as the US faces its biggest measles outbreak in more than three decades. By May 2025, the country had recorded more than 1,000 confirmed cases across 30 states, with the vast majority linked to a small number of outbreaks, according to Axios. The biggest cluster began in west Texas and has since spread into New Mexico and elsewhere. Public health experts have warned that measles is highly contagious and that vaccination remains the most effective way to prevent infection and contain outbreaks.

Yet Kennedy’s message remains anything but consistent. FactCheck.org has documented a long pattern of mixed statements on the measles vaccine, while PolitiFact reported that in March 2025 he suggested measles infection might help protect against cancers and other diseases, a claim experts said had no credible evidential basis. Medical specialists say measles can instead weaken the immune system for years. Kennedy has also continued to back alternative approaches, with Axios reporting that he has asked the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to examine non-traditional treatments. Separately, The Week reported that a vaccine advisory panel appointed under his leadership recently moved to restrict access to the combined MMRV shot for younger children, a decision that has fuelled concern among critics who say his tenure is still marked by confusion and contradiction.