, Columnist
RFK Jr.’s Measles Message Is Too Little, Too Late
More Americans could die without a clear and authoritative directive encouraging them to get vaccinated.
The best way to avoid measles.
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With the death of a second child from measles and cases in the US surging past 600, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, finally stated the obvious: Vaccination is the best way to prevent the spread of the disease.
It’s a message that should have come sooner from the country’s top public health official. Kennedy’s response is both too late and too confusing to effectively contain the outbreak. He doesn’t seem to take seriously the real risk of the US losing its measles elimination status, declared in 2000 after widespread vaccination stopped the spread of the virus.