“If measles vaccination rates continue to drop just 1% annually for the next five years, the cost to the U.S. could reach $1.5 billion a year, according to a new report from the Yale School of Public Health.”
Tracking Emerging Public Health Challenges – March 4, 2026 – Measles
“Two physicians will join the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). “Sean G. Downing, M.D. an internal medicine physician, and Angelina Farella, M.D., a pediatrician, were announced as the newest members late Feb. 27.
“ACIP must scrutinize the evidence openly, ask hard questions, and earn the nation’s confidence through transparent deliberation,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.,said in a statement. “Dr. Downing and Dr. Farella bring decades of real-world experience caring for children, adults, and families — and that frontline perspective is essential to making recommendations that are grounded in gold-standard science and worthy of public trust.”
Kennedy said the additional members are part of an effort to promote transparency, rigorous science and diverse clinical expertise in the nation’s immunization policy process.”
“In the last year, the board, its deliberations, policies and statements on vaccine safety and efficacy have sparked a firestorm of debate across the U.S. health care community. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has filed a federal lawsuit to block implementation of the nation’s newest pediatric immunization schedule. At least 70 various medical and advocacy organizations have announced their support for AAP.
ACIP advises the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which establishes the vaccine schedule. As of Jan. 20, more than half of the 50 states had announced they would not follow the CDC’s recommendations for childhood vaccines. Last week, California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced a multistate lawsuit against HHS also challenging the immunization schedule announced in January.” (1)
“As South Carolina grapples with a measles outbreak that has infected nearly 1,000 people, groups with ties to the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, are pushing to eliminate immunization requirements that protect children.
Activists are targeting vaccine mandates in states trying to tamp down measles as communities across the country struggle to stop the worst spread of the illness since the early 1990s. The Guardian found anti-vaccine groups are encouraging their followers to organize opposition to vaccine mandates in more than 20 states, including at least six with current measles outbreaks.
Leaders of this campaign include the anti-vaccine organization Kennedy led for years, a group run by his longtime book publisher, and Leslie Manookian, an Idaho film-maker, homeopath and activist whom Kennedy has called his friend.
Doctors and advocates for children’s health warn that removing or weakening mandates, particularly those that require vaccination in schools, will lead to lower vaccination rates – and more illness and suffering for families.
“We will see more outbreaks. We will see children missing school, parents missing work,” said Dr Jana Shaw, an infectious disease specialist who has conducted research on vaccine hesitancy. “We will see increased costs for those families whose children will get sick and develop complications and disability. Some of them will die.”” (2)
“If measles vaccination rates continue to drop just 1% annually for the next five years, the cost to the U.S. could reach $1.5 billion a year, according to a new report from the Yale School of Public Health.
Armed with existing county-level vaccination coverage data, Yale researchers used mathematical models to calculate predicted increases in measles cases, hospitalizations and their associated medical and societal costs.
Based on their projections, $41.1 million would be needed each year to cover patients’ basic medical needs, including health insurance, and $947 million for public health response efforts such as surveillance and contact tracing. Lost productivity in the workforce, the report found, could reach $510.4 million each year.”
Dave Chokshi, chair of Common Health Coalition, a nonprofit, nonpartisan public health group that partnered with Yale for the project, said a measles outbreak reverberates through all parts of “the health ecosystem.”” (3)
“Just two months into 2026, the CDC has confirmed over 1,100 measles cases. By comparison, the CDC confirmed 2,281 cases in all of 2025, the most in the U.S. since 1992.
Ninety two percent of this year’s confirmed cases are among people who are unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown. The AAP recommends a two-dose MMR vaccination series – one dose of MMR is 93% effective against measles, and two doses are 97% effective. Read the full piece in AAP News: https://bit.ly/4r5XU1e” (4)
“A meeting of an international panel of experts that was set to review the United States’ measles elimination status next month has been postponed until November, the Pan American Health Organization said on Monday.
U.S. health officials asked for the delay to allow more time for measles data analysis, said Andrew Nixon, a spokesman for the U.S. Health and Human Services Department.
PAHO is convening the panel to assess whether the ongoing spread of measles in the U.S., which began January last year with an outbreak in Texas, means the U.S. should lose the elimination status.
The U.S. has had the status, indicating it has not had continuous measles transmission for more than a year, since 2000.”
“”The additional time will allow for a thorough and transparent assessment of the 2025 measles outbreaks, including comprehensive genomic sequencing and advanced analysis,” Nixon said.” (5)
1.Two physicians will join the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)., by Richard Payerchin, https://www.medicaleconomics.com/view/2-physicians-to-take-additional-seats-on-acip-vaccine-board-meeting-schedule-for-march
2.As measles spreads in South Carolina, RFK Jr’s allies work to gut vaccine laws, by Michelle R Smith, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/02/measles-south-carolina-rfk-jr-vaccine-laws
3.Measles outbreaks are costing the U.S. millions of dollars. The true losses can’t be counted., By Erika Edwards, https://www.nbcnews.com/health/kids-health/measles-cost-vaccine-rates-decline-billion-year-forecast-rcna260734
4.American Academy of Pediatrics’ Post,
5. Expert meeting on US measles elimination status delayed to November, By Kamal Choudhury,
curated by Jonathan M. Metsch, Dr.P.H.
Clinical Professor of Environmental Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
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