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U.S. health official Mehmet Oz urged people to get vaccinated against measles as outbreaks have been reported in multiple states, warning the United States risks losing its measles elimination status. Oz, who serves as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, made the plea as an outbreak in South Carolina has affected hundreds of people and as additional cases have been confirmed elsewhere.
“Por favor, vacúnense”, Oz said on Sunday, according to the Associated Press. Oz said he was speaking at a time when measles outbreaks are active and when public health officials have been concerned that vaccine distrust can contribute to the spread of diseases that had previously been declared eradicated.
Oz, a heart surgeon by training, defended federal vaccine guidance that has been recently reviewed and also discussed past remarks by President Donald Trump and the country’s health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Oz said that the measles vaccine remains appropriate for people to protect themselves against, and he framed measles as more dangerous than other illnesses in public remarks on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
On the same program, Oz said, “No todas las enfermedades son igualmente peligrosas y no todas las personas son igualmente susceptibles a esas enfermedades.” He added, “Pero el sarampión es una para la que deberías vacunarte.” In a separate interview when asked whether people should fear measles, Oz responded, “Oh, por supuesto.”
Oz also said that access and coverage for measles vaccination are not expected to change under Medicare and Medicaid. He said that Medicare and Medicaid would continue covering the measles vaccine as part of insurance programs and told viewers that “Nunca habrá una barrera para que los estadounidenses accedan a la vacuna contra el sarampión. Y es parte del calendario básico”.
At the same time, Oz’s comments reflected the tensions surrounding vaccine policy in Washington. Oz said he and his administration have advocated for measles vaccinations “from the beginning” and argued that Kennedy “ha estado al frente de esto,” according to the Associated Press report.
Oz said Kennedy’s position during earlier outbreaks included supporting vaccination against measles. Oz said that when the first outbreak occurred in Texas, Kennedy told people to get vaccinated against measles because it was an example of an illness people should guard against, according to the Associated Press account of Oz’s remarks.
The Associated Press report also described political debate around vaccination recommendations for children. It said the Republican administration last month removed some vaccine recommendations for children, a review that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said was in response to a request from Trump. The report noted that states, rather than the federal government, control whether schools can require vaccinations, though federal guidance often influences state rules and some states have begun forming their own alliances in response to White House positions.
The AP said measles outbreaks have affected mainly children and that additional outbreaks have been reported along the Utah-Arizona border and in other states. It also said vaccination rates in the United States have declined and that the proportion of children with exemptions has reached a record high, while rates of vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles and whooping cough have increased.
The report included background on Kennedy’s past activism and comments about vaccines and autism. It said Kennedy’s skepticism about vaccines has drawn scrutiny since Trump first nominated him to lead HHS, including during a Senate confirmation hearing last year when Kennedy discussed a 2019 trip to Samoa that he said “no tenía nada que ver con las vacunas.” The Associated Press report said documents obtained by The Guardian and The Associated Press raised questions about that testimony by describing emails that suggested Kennedy sought meetings with senior officials ahead of the outbreak.
In additional remarks described by the AP, the report said officials have delivered uneven messaging about vaccine effectiveness and autism during the current review of U.S. public health policy. During a Senate hearing Tuesday, the report said Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health, said no single vaccine causes autism but did not rule out the possibility that future research could find that some vaccine combinations might have negative health effects.
The Associated Press report also said Kennedy has argued that a link between vaccines and autism has not been disproved, and that he previously raised concerns about components such as timerosal, while noting that many measles, mumps and rubella vaccines do not contain timerosal. The report further said a federal vaccine advisory committee reviewed by Kennedy voted last year to stop recommending vaccines containing timerosal.
Health officials have said restoring public trust in the health system remains important after the coronavirus pandemic, when vaccines and public health response became highly polarized in U.S. politics, according to the Associated Press.