On the Texas’s measles outbreak, Trump administration’s messaging is atypical

In 2019, against the background of a measles outbreak in New York, federal health officials evenly preached the power of immunization.

“Greatness is preventable, and how to conclude this outbreak is to make sure that all children and adults can be vaccinated, to be vaccinated”, ” said Robert Redfieldthen the director of the centers for the control and prevention of diseases. Secretary of Health Alex Azar he soundedto say “the suffering we see today is completely avoided.”

President Trump, then in his first term, also begging people to be immunized. “He has to get the blow,” he said. “Vaccinations are so important.”

The new Trump administration at least so far sends a different message.

to A cabinet meeting Wednesday a reporter asked about Trump about the rapidly growing measles outbreak Centered in Texas – with 124 confirmed cases, the largest outbreak of the country in New York in 2018 and 2019 – and who killed a child, who was not vaccinated. Trump has sent the question of his health secretary and the vaccine critic for a long time, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

In his short answer, Kennedy seemed to reduce the outbreak, saying that he was not “unusual” and apparently he was wrong how many people died. (It is one, according to Texas officials, not two, as Kennedy said.) He also did not take advantage of the opportunity to emphasize the importance of vaccination in protecting individuals and at the outbreak.

Although the reporter did not mention vaccines as part of the question, public health officials would usually know how to use the opportunity in front of the national press press to emphasize the importance of immunizations. The vast majority of cases in the Texas focal are in people who have not been vaccinated or whose vaccination status is known.

“You have imagined any other HHS secretary for the last 60 years, saying:” This is why we recommend vaccinations and support local communities with vaccination and encourage everyone to talk to their doctors and listen to their local health officials, “said Wendy Parment, director of the Center for Health Policy and Law Law.

Kennedy said the government “put a post” on the measles outbreak on Tuesday, but it wasn’t clear what it was. HHS did not clarify when asked.

The CDC supports the response to the measles outbreak in Texas and New Mexico, the latter noticed nine cases in a county that is adjacent to Texas. In situations like this, in general, local and local authorities have led the effort, with federal aid.

But experts said that they will continue to wait for the agency and other federal officials to reiterate the importance of vaccines in their public communications. CDC, which is under provisional leadership, has not launched statements or posted on social networks that require the absorption of vaccines in the light of the measles outbreak.

In contrast, Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.), A doctor and chairman of the Senate Health Committee and the fervent believer in the importance of vaccines, emphasized the importance of shot while Posting on social media about the outbreak in Texas.

For people who have expressed concern that Trump’s embrace of prominent anti-vaccines such as RFK Jr. could create a period of greater skepticism on the basic public health principles, the lack of messenger from the executive branch was an early sign, their fears could be a reality.

“What hit me is the almost total tranquility from the CDC in communicating about this outbreak, talking about the importance of vaccination, offering its own perspective and voice on the outbreak,” said Jason Schwartz, an expert in the vaccine policy at the Yale Public School. “You expect the CDC to use this opportunity to talk about the risks of the disease and the importance of vaccines and we only see anything from it.”

Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at the Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia, agreed, saying that “there should be a CDC spokesman in front of the media, because they are very involved in investigating these outbreaks.” CDC could inform people about what is happening, he said.

On Wednesday, CDC sent questions about his answer to HHS, where Andrew Nixon spokesman said in a statement that CDC offers technical assistance, laboratory support and vaccine supply to Texas and New Mexico.

Asked why neither CDC nor Kennedy asked their parents to vaccinate their children if they were not already, HHS replied with the same statement.

In particular, the health departments of both states have repeatedly emphasized that the best way to protect themselves and their families is to make sure they are vaccinated.

Experts have acknowledged that the CDC is not always the most reliable messenger, especially after a pandemic in which public health was an increasingly politicized problem and during which health agencies were wrong in some communications. In many cases, people who are dead against the idea of ​​vaccines would not be expected to change their minds when they saw the CDC encouragement. (Local officials and doctors can be more reliable resources in these situations.)

But Parmen said a lack of uniformity in the messenger – if the CDC does not resonate state officials, for example – “create an opening for people to have doubts.”

Trump’s candidate to lead the CDC, Dave Weldon, has not yet had the confirmation hearing and no major public presence. But it is not clear what he would say on the outbreaks. Weldon, just like Kennedy, has In the past, he expressed concerns about the safety of vaccinesIncluding measles, mumps and immunization of rubes, that repeated studies have been shown to be unfounded.

Also, Schwartz raised the problem with the RFK Jr. characterization of the Texas measles outbreak as being rolled, the health secretary saying “we have measles outbreaks every year.”

Technically, this is true. In 2024, for example, there were 16 measles outbreaks. However, a outbreak is defined as only three or more related cases.

Schwartz noted the size of the outbreak and rapid growth in cases that separated the situation in Texas and raised alarms that they could continue to grow without a stronger response. What differentiates it and is the death of a child – the first measles death in the US in a decade.

“This is not just a typical flame of measles that is exposed,” he said.

Helen Branswell has contributed to the reporting.