MMR vaccine endorsement — On April 7, 2025, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. surprised longtime supporters by endorsing the MMR vaccine following a deadly measles outbreak in Texas.
Kennedy, once a vocal vaccine skeptic, called the MMR vaccine “the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles” in a post on X (formerly Twitter) following a visit to Gaines County, Texas, where he met with families of two children who died during the outbreak. He also ordered the CDC to distribute MMR vaccines and supplies to pharmacies and clinics in the region.
Science vs. Sentiment
Kennedy’s endorsement aligns with decades of medical consensus. “A single dose is 93% effective, and a second dose raises it to 97%,” said Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, only 2% of the 481 measles cases as of April 4 involved vaccinated individuals. The remaining majority were unvaccinated, with three deaths now confirmed—two children in Texas and an adult in New Mexico.
Fury Among the Anti-Vaccine Movement
Despite the evidence, Kennedy’s post sparked intense backlash. Prominent anti-vaccine figures like Dr. Sherri Tenpenny and Del Bigtree, who co-founded a nonprofit with Kennedy, criticized the statement harshly. Some accused Kennedy of betraying the movement that once supported his political rise.
“We voted for challenging the medical establishment, not endorsing it,” said Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, a Texas physician under investigation for promoting ivermectin during the COVID pandemic.
Bowden said many of Kennedy’s supporters were drawn to him for questioning public health authority post-COVID, and his pro-MMR stance felt like déjà vu from 2020.
A Shift from His Past
Kennedy’s current position contradicts his previous public statements. In 2019, his nonprofit Children’s Health Defense attempted to block school vaccine mandates. In 2023, he told Joe Rogan that measles deaths were due to malnutrition, not lack of vaccines—offering no data to support that claim.
Misguided Remedies and Mixed Messaging
In the same weekend he endorsed the MMR vaccine, Kennedy also promoted alternative treatments like budesonide and clarithromycin, neither of which are effective against measles, according to experts like Offit.
Additionally, Kennedy has pushed vitamin A as a preventive therapy. While useful in developing nations with malnutrition, high doses have already led to hospitalizations in Texas due to toxicity, reports Texas Public Media.
Uncontrolled Outbreak, Public Health at Risk
“This is a massive outbreak that is not being controlled,” Offit warned. “I’ve never been more upset. It’s hard to watch this.”
Measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000. Its resurgence in 2025—especially among the unvaccinated—has public health officials alarmed.
Source: NPR
