Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ignited a firestorm among anti-vaccine allies and activists after publicly endorsing the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine during a visit to West Texas, where a growing measles outbreak has claimed the lives of two children.
"The most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine," Kennedy posted Sunday on X, shortly after attending the funeral of the second child to die from the virus in Gaines County. His remarks marked the first unequivocal public endorsement of the vaccine since assuming his cabinet post and sparked swift backlash from longtime supporters in the anti-vaccine movement.
Kennedy added in his post that he had directed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to "supply pharmacies and Texas-run clinics with needed MMR vaccines," a sharp break from his previous skepticism about childhood immunizations. The statement followed private meetings with the families of the two Texas children who died, as well as a growing chorus of health officials urging federal intervention in the outbreak.
According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, 481 confirmed cases have been reported as of April 4, with nearly 500 now spread across the state and new clusters emerging in Oklahoma and Kansas. Of those cases, only 10 occurred in individuals who were partially or fully vaccinated. The three confirmed deaths in the outbreak-two in Texas and one in New Mexico-all involved unvaccinated individuals.
Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, emphasized the effectiveness of the MMR vaccine. "A single dose is roughly 93% effective at preventing illness, and the second dose gets that up to 97%," he said. "This is a massive outbreak that is not being controlled."
Offit warned that Kennedy's mixed messaging may still undermine efforts to curb the spread. In the same X thread endorsing the vaccine, Kennedy also promoted treatments that experts say have no clinical benefit for measles: aerosolized budesonide, a steroid typically used for asthma, and the antibiotic clarithromycin.
"Both of those things are valueless," Offit said. "Budesonide has no role in measles, and clarithromycin is not the right kind of antibiotic for secondary infections."
Several children in West Texas have reportedly been hospitalized with vitamin A toxicity, according to Texas Public Media, following earlier statements by Kennedy that the vitamin could "dramatically reduce measles mortality." Offit refuted that claim as well, stating that while vitamin A may reduce measles mortality in developing nations, it "can damage children's livers in large doses" and has no role in measles care in the U.S.
Anti-vaccine figures who once aligned with Kennedy reacted with fury. "I'm sorry, but there is no defense for this poorly worded statement," wrote Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, a conspiracy theorist who previously claimed COVID-19 vaccines made people magnetic. Del Bigtree, who co-founded the MAHA Action nonprofit with Kennedy and once promoted a documentary linking vaccines to autism, suggested Kennedy's post had "got cut off," and shared debunked claims about vaccine risks.
Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, a Texas-based physician and Kennedy supporter, also rejected the endorsement. "We voted for challenging the medical establishment, not endorsing it," she wrote on X. Bowden, who is facing scrutiny from the Texas medical board over her use of ivermectin, told NPR, "Do we need to make a proclamation, 'Ok, this is what needs to be done'? That's what rubs me the wrong way."
Kennedy's statement directly contradicts his long history of vaccine skepticism. Before joining the Biden administration, he chaired Children's Health Defense, a prominent anti-vaccine group that unsuccessfully sued New York over school vaccination mandates during the 2019 measles outbreak. In a 2023 interview on the Joe Rogan podcast, Kennedy falsely claimed that measles mortality had declined due to improved nutrition rather than vaccines. The few deaths that did occur "were all kids in the Mississippi Delta, black kids, severely malnourished," he said, without offering evidence.
Still, public health experts cautiously welcomed Kennedy's remarks. "It's heartening on one hand that the Secretary acknowledged vaccination is the primary way to stop the spread," said Jason Schwartz, a vaccine policy expert at Yale School of Public Health. "But it's noteworthy that the acknowledgement was the stuff of headlines."
Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, wrote on X: "Everyone should be vaccinated! There is no treatment for measles. No benefit to getting measles." Cassidy, who had previously voiced concerns about Kennedy's appointment, has invited him to testify at an upcoming hearing, although HHS has not confirmed his attendance.
The Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to requests for comment on Kennedy's post. As of Monday, the measles outbreak remains one of the largest in the U.S. since the virus was declared eliminated in 2000.
