Health secretary RFK Jr. endorses the MMR vaccine -- stoking fury among his supporters

(NPR) An endorsement of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has provoked an angry outcry from anti-vaccine activists.

"The most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine," Kennedy said in the third paragraph of a lengthy post on the social media platform X. Kennedy made the post following meetings on Sunday in Gaines County, Texas with the families of two children who have died of measles during a recent outbreak in the state. He also said he had instructed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to "supply pharmacies and Texas run clinics with needed MMR vaccines," along with other medical supplies.

Kennedy's endorsement is in line with all available scientific evidence on the MMR vaccine. "A single dose is roughly 93% effective at preventing illness, and the second dose gets that up to 97%," says Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital in Philadelphia. According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, just 10 of the 481 measles cases recorded as of April 4 were in partially or fully vaccinated individuals — that's around 2% of all overall cases. So far three unvaccinated people, the two children in Texas and an adult in New Mexico, have died from the disease.

https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/04/07/nx-s1-5354900/hhs-rfk-endorses-mmr-measles-vaccine-stoking-supporters-fury