Public Health Experts Worry As Trump Ramps Up Anti-Vax Messaging
The former president has been threatening to withhold money from schools with vaccine or mask mandates. Meanwhile, in West Virginia, Republican state lawmakers advanced a bill paring back a strict public school vaccine mandate.
The Hill:
Trump’s Vaccine Rhetoric Sends Chills Through Public Health Circles
Public health advocates are watching in growing alarm as former President Trump increasingly embraces the anti-vaccine movement. “I will not give one penny to any school that has a vaccine mandate or a mask mandate,” Trump said in a recent campaign rally in Richmond, Va. It’s a line Trump has repeated, and his campaign said he is only referring to school COVID-19 vaccine mandates — but that hasn’t eased fears that the GOP leader could accelerate already worrying trends of declining child vaccination. (Weixel, 3/9)
AP:
West Virginia Lawmakers OK Bill Drawing Back One Of The Country's Strictest Child Vaccination Laws
West Virginia’s GOP-controlled state Legislature voted Saturday to allow some students who don’t attend traditional public schools to be exempt from state vaccination requirements that have long been held up as among the most strict in the country. The bill was approved despite the objections of Republican Senate Health and Human Resources Chair Mike Maroney, a trained doctor, who called the bill “an embarrassment” and said he believed lawmakers were harming the state. “I took an oath to do no harm. There’s zero chance I can vote for this bill,” Maroney said before the bill passed the Senate 18-12. (Willingham, 3/10)
Chicago Tribune:
Measles Case Reported At Chicago's Largest Migrant Shelter
A child staying at a migrant shelter on the Lower West Side developed a confirmed case of measles, Chicago public health officials announced Friday. It was the second case of measles reported in the city this week. Officials said the child has recovered and is no longer infectious. The city of Chicago is responding with a “host of resources,” a city spokesperson said in a statement Friday morning. (Salzman, 3/8)
The Hill:
Measles Outbreak Threatens US Status Of ‘Eliminating’ Virus
The rash of measles outbreaks around the country has sparked concerns that the U.S. risks losing its status as a country where the disease has been eliminated, a distinction held since 2000. As of last week, 41 measles cases have been confirmed across 15 states and New York City, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That puts the nation already on track to surpass the 58 total cases that were detected in 2023. (Choi, 3/8)
Updates from the world's largest vaccine maker —
Reuters:
Serum Institute Of India Looks Beyond COVID With New Vaccines For Malaria, Dengue
The CEO of the world's biggest vaccine maker, Serum Institute of India, said the company has bolstered its manufacturing ahead of launches over the next few years of shots against diseases like malaria and dengue by repurposing facilities used to make COVID-19 immunizations. With COVID manufacturing scaled back as demand ebbs, the company is using those facilities to instead manufacture its newer shots, which it estimates will boost total production by two and a half billion doses, CEO Adar Poonawalla said in an interview. (Mishra, 3/10)
