(Washington) A top U.S. health official is urging people to get vaccinated against measles as several states are hit by outbreaks and the United States risks losing its measles-free status.
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“Get vaccinated, please!” We have a solution to our problem,” said Dr.r Medicare and Medicaid administrator Mehmet Oz, whose supervisor has expressed doubts about the safety and importance of vaccines.
The Dr Oz, a heart surgeon and former television star, defended some recently revised federal vaccination recommendations, as well as past comments from President Donald Trump and the nation’s health official, Robert F. Kennedy, on the effectiveness of vaccines. He sent a clear message about measles.
“Not all diseases are equally dangerous and not all people are equally susceptible to these diseases, but measles is a disease that you need to get vaccinated against,” he said on the show State of the Unionbroadcast Sunday on CNN.
An outbreak that affected hundreds of people in South Carolina has surpassed the number of cases recorded in the 2025 outbreak in Texas, and another outbreak is raging on the Utah-Arizona border. Several other states have confirmed cases this year.
The outbreaks are mostly affecting children and come as infectious disease experts warn that growing public distrust of vaccines could contribute to the spread of a disease that had been declared eradicated by public health officials.
Asked if people should fear measles, Dr.r Oz replied, “Oh, sure. » He noted that Medicare and Medicaid continue to cover the measles vaccine under their insurance programs.
“There will never be a barrier to Americans’ access to the measles vaccine. It is part of the basic calendar,” he said.
“We have always advocated vaccination against measles” and Mr. Kennedy “has been at the forefront of this fight,” said Dr.r Oz.
Questions about vaccines were not addressed in an interview with Mr. Kennedy on Fox News show The Sunday Briefingwhere he was asked what kind of snack he might eat during the Super Bowl. He also revealed that he eats steak with sauerkraut in the morning.
Critics of Mr. Kennedy have argued that the health secretary’s long-standing skepticism of U.S. vaccination recommendations and his past sympathy for the unfounded claim that vaccines could cause autism could influence official public health recommendations in ways contrary to medical consensus.
The Dr Oz maintains that Mr. Kennedy favors the measles vaccine, despite his general comments about the recommended vaccination schedule.
“When the first outbreak broke out in Texas, he said, ‘Get vaccinated against measles, because that’s an example of a disease you need to get vaccinated against,'” recalled Dr.r Oz.
Last month, the Republican administration abandoned some recommendations for childhood vaccinations. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the overhaul of the traditional vaccination schedule responded to a request from Donald Trump.
The president asked the agency to review other countries’ approach to vaccine recommendations and consider revising U.S. guidelines accordingly.
States, not the federal government, have the authority to mandate childhood vaccinations. While federal requirements often influence state regulations, some have begun creating their own alliances to counter the Trump administration’s vaccination recommendations.
U.S. vaccination rates have fallen and the proportion of children with exemptions has reached a record high, according to federal data. At the same time, rates of vaccine-preventable diseases, such as measles and whooping cough, are rising across the country.
Mixed messages
D’s commentsr Oz are part of a broader trend among Trump administration officials to make discordant and sometimes contradictory statements about the effectiveness of vaccines as part of an overhaul of U.S. public health policy.
Officials have taken an awkward stance in criticizing past U.S. vaccination policy, often appearing to express sympathy for the unfounded conspiracy theories of anti-vaccine activists, while not straying too far from established science.
At a Senate hearing Tuesday, Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health, said no vaccine alone causes autism. However, he did not rule out the possibility that research could reveal that a combination of vaccines could cause negative health side effects.
Mr. Kennedy, in his testimony before the Senate, argued that the link between vaccines and autism had not been disproven.
He previously claimed that certain vaccine components, such as thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative, could cause neurological disorders in children, such as autism.
Most measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines do not contain thimerosal.
A federal vaccine advisory committee, reshuffled by Mr. Kennedy last year, voted to remove vaccines containing thimerosal.
Public health officials in the Trump administration often talk about the need to restore trust in public health systems after the coronavirus pandemic, as vaccine policy and the overall public health response to this deadly pandemic have become a highly polarizing topic in American politics.
Misinformation and conspiracy theories about the public health system have also become widespread during the pandemic, and long-standing anti-vaccine activist groups have seen general public interest in their cause increase significantly.
