A family supports a young child as he receives the MMR vaccine at a clinic setup by the Lubbock Public Health Department amid a rise in cases in West Texas, in 2025.
Photographer: Jan Sonnenmair/Getty ImagesHealth
As Measles Takes Toll on Kids, Anti-Vaxxers Have Change of Heart
Enough parents are quietly embracing the MMR that it’s helping to slow the outbreaks.
Katie Jennings was scrolling on her phone last April when a headline stopped her cold. A second unvaccinated child had died of measles in her home state of Texas.
It was a tipping point for the 40-year-old stay-at-home mom who had grown up in a staunchly anti-vaccine, fundamentalist Christian community. “What are we doing? Why are we doing this?” she remembers thinking. “I wanted to protect my kids.”