Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Measles Cases Rise As Vaccinations Fall; Is It A Sign Of Things To Come?
The Washington Post: Measles Surges Worldwide Because Of Lack Of Vaccine Coverage, WHO Says
An estimated 10.3 million cases of measles occurred worldwide last year, up 20 percent from 2022, primarily because of inadequate immunization coverage, the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. The disease resulted in 107,500 deaths last year, mostly killing children younger than 5, the two agencies said. Although that number was an 8 percent decrease from 2022, the reduction in fatalities was primarily because the increase in cases occurred in countries with better nutritional and health services, the WHO and CDC said. (Jeong, 11/15)
In other news about vaccinations —
Newsweek: Is RFK Jr. Anti-Vaccine? Everything The HHS Secretary Nominee Has Said
Kennedy came under criticism for advocating against COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic as well as statements he made comparing lockdowns to Nazi Germany and claiming that the virus was "ethnically targeted" to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people. (Fung, 11/14)
NPR: What Happens When A Vaccine Skeptic Leads Health Policy? Ask Florida
President-elect Trump says he's going to let Robert F. Kennedy Jr. "go wild on health." That has many pediatricians nervous, because of RFK Jr.'s anti-vaccine rhetoric. When another vaccine skeptic, Joseph Ladapo, became surgeon general in Florida, some doctors there say vaccine hesitancy got worse. ... Vaccine hesitancy has been growing in Florida. When Ladapo was appointed in September of 2021, the routine childhood vaccination rate for kindergartners was 93.3%. It has now dropped to 90.6%. That's the lowest rate in more than a decade — and it's well below the threshold needed for herd immunity against highly contagious diseases like measles. (Goody, 11/13)
CNN: Vaccine Maker Stocks Tumble After Trump Picks RFK Jr. For Health Secretary
Shares of prominent vaccine makers plunged Thursday after President-elect Donald Trump announced his pick of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be the next secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. An hour before the market closed Thursday, as news reports of Trump’s choice began trickling out, Covid-19 vaccine maker Moderna dipped as much as 6%, and Pfizer fell almost 2%. Novavax, which created a protein-based Covid-19 vaccine, fell almost 6%. (Maruf, 11/14)
