These Arizona counties have lower measles vaccination rates than Texas outbreak origin
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Fears are growing about the spread of measles across the country after a second girl in Texas died from the virus. On Sunday, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has been skeptical of vaccines, said MMR vaccination is the best form of protection against the virus and encouraged people to get vaccinated.
In Arizona, some counties have even lower vaccination rates than where the outbreak originated in Texas.
So far this year, the country has more than doubled the number of measles cases it saw in 2024. While no cases have been reported in Arizona this year, our neighboring states, California and New Mexico, have cases.
Doctors say the virus has been spreading in under-vaccinated communities.
“It is extremely contagious,” Dr. Gary Kirkilas with Phoenix Children’s Hospital said.
There have been 642 confirmed cases reported this year across 22 states, 499 of which are in Texas. Last year, there were 285 cases in total.
Sadly, two young Texas girls have died from measles this year. Over the weekend, RFK Jr. visited Gaines County, Texas, the epicenter of the measles outbreak, to meet with the family who lost their 8-year-old daughter from measles. Neither of the girls who died were vaccinated.
Gaines County has an 82% vaccination rate among kindergarten students. Some Arizona counties have even lower vaccination rates, below 80% in Gila, Navajo, Mohave and Yavapai counties.
“It just takes one case in a school perhaps and if there’s two or three kids in that class that are also unimmunized, that spreads like wildfire,” Dr. Kirkilas said.
According to the CDC, vaccination coverage among kindergarteners has decreased over the last few years. While no cases have been reported in Arizona this year, Kirkilas says the vaccine is 97% effective against measles after two doses.
“The MMR, the vaccine that we give, has a really good safety profile. It’s been around since the 70s,” he said.
RFK Jr. echoed that message, which may surprise some. He has been a vaccine skeptic, but he recently posted, “The most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine.”
“Roughly speaking, if you’re in a room with somebody that has measles and you’re not immunized, there’s a 90% chance that you’re going to get it. That’s not something that we see with other disease entities,” Kirkilas said.
Doctors recommend that children get their first dose between 12 and 15 months old and their second dose between 4 and 6 years old. Full protection kicks in after about 2 weeks.
RFK Jr. is scheduled to visit Phoenix on Tuesday for his Make America Healthy Again tour. For more information, visit HHS’ website.
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