What The Hell America!

As a measles outbreak in West Texas and New Mexico continues to grow, and other states report outbreaks of their own, some pediatricians across the U.S. say they are seeing a new trend among concerned parents: vaccine enthusiasm.

“Our call center was inundated with calls about the MMR [measles, mumps, rubella] vaccine,” says Dr. Shannon Fox-Levine, a pediatrician in Broward County, Fla. She says parents are asking if their child is up to date on their vaccinations. Or “should they get another vaccine? Should they get an extra one? Can they get it early?”

Measles spreads quickly in communities where vaccination rates are low, and vaccine hesitancy has been on the rise across the U.S. in recent years. Kindergarten vaccination rates have not bounced back to their pre-pandemic levels.

Fox-Levine says the recent interest in the MMR vaccine — which protects against measles, mumps and rubella — is a refreshing change in a state where vaccine hesitancy has been growing.

Florida’s kindergarten vaccination rates to protect against measles fell to 88.1% in the 2023-2024 school year — below the 95% vaccination rate considered necessary to protect against outbreaks. So, seeing a demand for vaccines is “exciting,” she says.

Five U.S. states are currently experiencing measles outbreaks — New Mexico, Kansas, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas, which has the most cases by far, with 400 confirmed cases as of Friday. So far this year, the U.S. has reported more than 480 measles cases in 20 states. That’s more cases than in all of 2024. Almost all of the cases are in people who were not vaccinated.

Parents are watching what’s happening with these outbreaks and concern about potential exposure is growing. Before the measles vaccine was developed in the early 1960s, the disease used to kill hundreds of people in the U.S. every year.

In Southern Pines, N.C., pediatrician Dr. Christoph Diasio says he’s had many conversations in recent weeks with families who are interested in getting their children vaccinated against measles earlier than what’s usually recommended.

The first dose of the MMR vaccine is usually given between 12 and 15 months of age, with a second dose administered between the ages of 4 and 6 years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says infants as young as 6 months old can receive the MMR vaccine if they are traveling abroad or are in an outbreak area.

Diasio says families with children younger than 12 months are requesting the shot early, especially if they have travel plans for spring break.

“Several families have asked what our game plan is if we get measles in our community,” Diasio says.

In some cases, Diasio says, his patient families have delayed travel plans until their children are old enough to receive the MMR shot.

“The main thing I’m hearing from my patients is not, ‘Oh, my gosh, I’m so scared of that measles vaccine. It’s more like, can I have one? Should I get an extra?” Diasio says.

He says one mother he spoke with recently was worried about the potential that unvaccinated relatives could contract measles while flying cross-country to visit her. “It’s awful that this is now a discussion we have to have,” Diasio says.

Interest in vaccinations has ramped up ahead of the spring break travel season, says Dr. Susan Sirota, a primary care pediatrician in the Chicago area.

“We have many patients calling us because they are traveling to either Texas or places near Texas, or states where they suspect that vaccination rates are lower than we have in Illinois,” Sirota says. “Many families are requesting early MMR [vaccines].” 

While the measles outbreaks are driving interest in vaccinations, Sirota says they’re not the only factor at play. She says many families she works with follow the news, and they worry that vaccines may become less accessible in the future now that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime critic of vaccines, is the head of the Department of Health and Human Services.

“What I’m seeing is that there’s a bit of fear among moms and dads and parents about their ability to protect their children and to prevent diseases because vaccine access is in question for them,” Sirota says.

And it’s not just the measles vaccine. Sirota says some patients are worried about access to the HPV vaccine, which protects against human papillomavirus. HPV is best known for causing cervical cancer, but can also cause other malignancies, including cancer of the throat and anus. Kennedy has been involved in legal challenges to that vaccine.

During his Senate confirmation hearing, Kennedy said he wouldn’t take vaccines away from anyone. He has called vaccines a personal choice. NPR reached out to HHS for comment about their plans to maintain people’s access to vaccines. They did not respond.

It’s too soon to tell whether anecdotal reports of vaccine enthusiasm will help counter longer-term trends toward growing vaccine hesitancy. According to one 2024 study, 1 in 5 U.S. parents are now hesitant about vaccines.

And studying changes in these attitudes may be harder in the future: The National Institutes of Health has terminated millions of dollars worth of grants for research to study vaccine hesitancy and how to improve immunization levels.

Edited by Jane Greenhalgh