In the wake of the worst measles outbreak in the United States in more than thirty years, public health officials and medical experts are sounding alarms about the growing influence of politics and misinformation on vaccine policy and emergency response. As communities in West Texas and beyond grappled with the consequences of delayed federal action and mixed messages from national leaders, the crisis has reignited debate over the direction of American public health—and what it means for the country’s most vulnerable.
On August 26, 2025, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued vaccine recommendations that diverged sharply from those set by the federal government, whose guidelines were shaped by Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. According to Scripps News, the AAP’s immunization schedule emphasized COVID-19 vaccination for young children, directly contradicting the federal stance. The move was echoed by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, which also broke with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to recommend COVID shots for pregnant women.
Why such a disconnect? Dr. Richard Besser, former acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), offered a stark explanation in an interview with Scripps News: “The reason you’re seeing the Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology breaking from the Department of Health and Human Services is that for the first time in my lifetime, the Department of Health and Human Services has moved away from evidence-based guidelines.” He continued, “It used to be that you could look to those guidelines and know that they were based on the best available science. That’s not the case anymore.”
Besser pointed to the composition of the federal advisory committee, noting that Secretary Kennedy Jr. “has populated the committee that makes those recommendations with the anti-vaccine advocates.” The result, he warned, is a policy that “flies in the face of evidence,” especially as it relates to groups at high risk—young children and pregnant women. “These are two groups that are at higher risk for having severe COVID infection, they’re at higher risk for being hospitalized for requiring intensive care services, and, unfortunately, they’re also at higher risk of dying from COVID.”
The controversy over federal vaccine policy comes amid a broader crisis in American public health. Early in 2025, as measles cases surged across Texas, the Trump administration’s actions sowed confusion and fear among CDC scientists, according to a detailed investigation by KFF Health News. The administration interfered with CDC communications, stalled agency reports, censored data, and abruptly laid off staff—just as local health departments were desperate for federal guidance.
Emails obtained by KFF Health News reveal the extent of the chaos. “CDC hasn’t reached out to us locally,” wrote Katherine Wells, the public health director in Lubbock, Texas, on February 5, two weeks after children with measles were hospitalized in her city. “My staff feels like we are out here all alone.” Tragically, a child died before CDC scientists made contact with local officials. “All of us at CDC train for this moment, a massive outbreak,” one CDC researcher told KFF Health News. “All this training and then we weren’t allowed to do anything.”
The consequences were dire. The outbreak, which began in West Texas, quickly spread to New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, and Mexico’s Chihuahua state. More than 4,500 people were sickened, at least 16 died, and hospitals and health departments faced exorbitant costs. KFF Health News described the outbreak as the worst the country has endured in more than three decades.
Undervaccinated Mennonite communities in Gaines County, Texas, were especially hard hit. Mistrust of authorities, language barriers, and immigration status complicated public health efforts. “It doesn’t matter what resources I have if people won’t avail themselves of it,” said Zach Holbrooks, executive director of the South Plains Public Health District. He noted that many in the community avoided testing and were reluctant to name contacts or speak with health officials.
As the outbreak intensified, local officials struggled to get answers from the CDC. Wells sent repeated emails to the Texas Department of State Health Services, asking for help on everything from testing protocols to care for infants exposed to measles. “Would it be possible to arrange a consultation with the CDC?” she wrote. Instead, information trickled out slowly, and local staff often relied on advice from nonprofit organizations and independent researchers. “The CDC had gone dark,” said Terri Burke, executive director of the Immunization Partnership.
The Trump administration’s freeze on federal communications officially ended on February 1, but CDC scientists reported that restrictions lingered for weeks. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, told KFF Health News, “The CDC was gagged.” He described how experts were diverted to scrub information from websites and were afraid to resume communication without explicit approval from higher-ups.
Meanwhile, Kennedy Jr. fueled doubts about vaccines and exaggerated the benefits of vitamins as a substitute for immunization. In an interview on Fox News, he claimed, “We’re providing vitamin A. There are many studies, some showing 87% effectiveness against serious disease and death.” However, the studies he referenced were conducted in low-income countries where vitamin A deficiency is common—conditions that do not apply in the United States. Nevertheless, local news outlets reported that vitamin A supplements were “flying off the shelf” in Lubbock, prompting concerns among health officials about overdoses and delayed medical care.
Kennedy Jr. also made dangerously inaccurate statements about vaccine safety. “There are adverse events from the vaccine. It does cause deaths every year,” he said. “It causes all the illnesses that measles itself causes, encephalitis and blindness, et cetera.” Yet, as KFF Health News emphasized, there is no evidence that measles vaccines cause deaths every year, nor that they cause encephalitis or blindness at rates comparable to the disease itself. The overwhelming scientific consensus is that the vaccine is safe and that serious adverse reactions are far rarer than complications from measles.
As the crisis deepened, local health departments in West Texas—already understaffed—were pushed to the brink. “Our capacity is stretched thin: the health department has been operating seven days a week since February 2nd. Staff are exhausted,” wrote Ronald Cook, medical director for Lubbock, in a plea for additional resources. Federal funds did not arrive until May 21, by which time the outbreak was already waning.
Dr. Besser, reflecting on the broader implications, told Scripps News, “We have now the experience of COVID vaccination with MRNA vaccination in hundreds of millions of people here and around the world. We know that those vaccines are incredibly safe and incredibly effective. So, for [Secretary Kennedy Jr.] to share the misinformation that he shared with you will lead some people to make decisions that they think are in the best interest of their health and the health of their families, that will put them at increased risk.”
Even as health officials declared the West Texas outbreak over on August 18, the ripple effects continued to be felt across the U.S. and Mexico. With vaccination rates dropping and misinformation on the rise, experts warn that more outbreaks are inevitable unless evidence-based policy and clear public health communication are restored. For those on the front lines, every day remains an act of resilience in the face of uncertainty.
