Dr. Oz Urges Measles Vaccine as Cases Rise
With measles cases climbing in several parts of the country and concerns growing that the United States could lose its long-standing measles elimination status, a senior federal health official on Sunday called on Americans to get vaccinated against the disease.
“Take the vaccine, please,” said Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, during a public appeal. “We have a solution for our problem.”
Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon by training, used the appearance to defend newly adjusted federal vaccine guidance and to push back against criticism surrounding past remarks by President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. regarding vaccines. He delivered an unambiguous message when it came to measles prevention.
“Not all illnesses are equally dangerous and not all people are equally susceptible to those illnesses,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “But measles is one you should get your vaccine.”
Health officials are tracking a significant outbreak in South Carolina involving hundreds of cases, which has now exceeded the size of Texas’ 2025 outbreak. Additional clusters have been identified along the Utah-Arizona border, and several other states have reported confirmed infections this year.
Children have accounted for most of the cases, as public health specialists warn that declining confidence in vaccines may be fueling the return of a disease that had previously been declared eliminated in the United States.
When asked during the interview whether measles should be feared, Oz responded, “Oh, for sure.” He added that coverage for the measles vaccine will remain in place under Medicare and Medicaid.
“There will never be a barrier to Americans get access to the measles vaccine. And it is part of the core schedule,” Oz said.
At the same time, Oz emphasized that federal officials have consistently supported measles vaccination, saying, “we have advocated for measles vaccines all along,” and asserting that Kennedy “has been on the very front of this.”
Vaccines were not addressed later in a Fox News Channel interview with Kennedy on “The Sunday Briefing,” where the health secretary was instead asked about his preferred Super Bowl snacks and eating habits, including yogurt and steak with sauerkraut for breakfast.
Critics of Kennedy argue that his long history of questioning U.S. vaccine policy and his past openness to discredited claims linking vaccines to autism could shape public health decisions in ways that conflict with established medical consensus.
Oz countered that Kennedy has supported measles vaccination even while questioning broader vaccine schedules.
“When the first outbreak happened in Texas, he said, get your vaccines for measles, because that’s an example of an ailment that you should get vaccinated against,” Oz said.
Last month, the Republican administration removed certain childhood vaccine recommendations, a significant change to the traditional immunization schedule. The Department of Health and Human Services said the move followed a request from Trump.
Trump asked the agency to examine how other developed nations approach vaccine guidance and to consider potential changes to U.S. recommendations.
Vaccination mandates for schoolchildren are set by individual states, not the federal government. While federal guidance often shapes those policies, some states have begun forming alliances aimed at countering the administration’s direction on vaccines.
Federal data show that vaccination rates have declined nationwide, while the percentage of children receiving exemptions has reached a record high. At the same time, cases of vaccine-preventable illnesses, including measles and whooping cough, are increasing across the country.
Oz’s remarks reflect a broader pattern within the administration, where officials have issued mixed and sometimes conflicting statements about vaccines amid sweeping changes to national public health policy.
Administration figures have sought to criticize previous vaccine strategies while at times appearing sympathetic to unsupported claims promoted by anti-vaccine activists, even as they avoid fully departing from mainstream scientific conclusions.
At a Senate hearing Tuesday, National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya stated that no individual vaccine causes autism, though he said he could not rule out future research identifying harmful effects from certain vaccine combinations.
Kennedy, however, has testified before Congress that a link between vaccines and autism has not been definitively disproven.
He has also previously claimed that vaccine components such as the mercury-based preservative thimerosal may contribute to childhood neurological conditions like autism. Most measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines do not contain thimerosal. A federal vaccine advisory panel restructured by Kennedy last year voted to stop recommending vaccines that include the preservative.
Public health officials within the administration frequently cite the need to rebuild trust in health institutions following the coronavirus pandemic, a period when vaccine policy and the broader response became sharply divisive in American politics.
False information and conspiracy theories about public health spread widely during the pandemic, drawing increased attention to long-established anti-vaccine groups.
Kennedy, who previously led the anti-vaccine organization Children’s Health Defense, has faced criticism for ordering reviews of vaccines and health guidelines that major medical bodies consider settled science.
Public health experts have also faulted the president for promoting unsupported claims on politically sensitive health topics. During an Oval Office event in September, Trump asserted without evidence that Tylenol and vaccines are connected to rising autism rates in the United States.
{Matzav.com}