In Tampa, RFK Jr. questions accuracy of report of measles deaths in Pennsylvania

TAMPA — U.S. Health & Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defended the Trump administration’s stances on childhood vaccinations Wednesday, questioning the accuracy of a report that that two unvaccinated Pennsylvania residents have died amid a global measles outbreak.

Kennedy is in the middle of series of public events with Florida Republican elected officials ahead of November’s midterm elections. He visited Tampa Bay Boulevard Elementary School in Tampa Wednesday with U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody to announce $32.5 million to help schools offer nutritious foods to students and strengthen evidence for nutrition interventions.

Before his media availability with reporters in Tampa, an aide told reporters to ask only about the initiative being introduced.

The Phoenix instead asked about the reported measles deaths in Pennsylvania, which led Gov. Josh Shapiro to say Tuesday that Kennedy’s history of casting doubt on the effectiveness of vaccines “is having a negative impact on communities across America.”

Kennedy responded by questioning whether those two deaths were connected to the measles.

“We’re trying to get information about those two casualties,” he said. “According to a statement that was released by the Lancaster County Commission today, they do not find any measles status in Lancaster County. And they complained that the governor will not give them that information.”

He went on to say that he has sent officials from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to cooperate with state health agencies whenever there’s been a notable measles outbreak, “and the only state that won’t cooperate with us is Pennsylvania and we can’t get any information.”

“The press is all covering this [as] if those measles deaths actually happened, and nobody is doing any critical inquiry to find out – we’re trying to find out whether those deaths actually happened, and we can’t figure that out.”

The Phoenix was unable to contact officials with Lancaster County.

Shapiro did respond, however, and he took exception to Kennedy’s comments.

“According to doctors and medical experts, the MMR vaccine is the best way to protect yourself, your kids, and your community against measles. But we have seen vaccination rates decline on RFK’s watch,” he said in a written statement also posted on X.

“The correlation is clear: Secretary Kennedy has stoked confusion amongst parents and others — and the result has been less protection from measles and more cases.”

He did not respond to the assertion the deaths may not be attributable to measles.

‘Anti-vax evangelist’

The group 314 Action, which works to recruit, train, and elect Democratic scientists across all levels of government, responded to Kennedy’s remarks.

“As an anti-vax evangelist and the nation’s alchemist-in-chief, he can’t have it both ways,” said 314 Action President Shaughnessy Naughton.

“Two more Americans are dead because RFK Jr. has spent his career promoting discredited claims, dangerous conspiracies, and quack cures. Instead of using his position as HHS secretary to provide clear advice to Americans on how to keep their children safe from the measles, he has used his megaphone to spread confusion and chaos — with deadly consequences.”

The CDC posted a message Tuesday afternoon on X. “HHS and CDC extend their condolences to the families and communities affected by two measles-associated deaths in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.”

Kennedy asserted that the United States is doing a better job in controlling the measles outbreak than any other country. (The U.S. does not make the top 10 list of countries with measles outbreaks, according to the CDC). He attributed the outbreak to the lockdowns that took place during COVID-19.

“We are actually restoring faith in the public health agencies so people will take our advice, and our advice is that people should get the measles vaccination,” he said. “They’re certain communities and certain religious communities that don’t want to do that, and we want to take care of those kids as well.”

The CDC recently released the latest data on national kindergartner vaccination rates. Non-medical exemptions for vaccinations for kindergarteners grew by 17% last year. However, the overwhelming number of parents still vaccinate their children, with vaccination rates at 94.2 % for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) and polio vaccines.

Florida has 142 reported measles cases, according to the CDC. That ranks the state fifth behind South Carolina (670), Utah (526), Pennsylvania (321), and Virginia (176). A total of 88.9% of Florida students have been vaccinated.

Immigrants blamed

Byron Donalds, the Republican candidate for governor, told CBS’ Face the Nation last weekend that a measles outbreak in Southwest Florida might be happening because of people who have entered the country without documentation.

“If you’re going to go back to the illegal immigration point I made on Face the Nation — there was an illegal immigrant detention facility in Chicago that had a measles outbreak,” he told a Phoenix reporter Tuesday night in St. Petersburg.

“The one in El Paso, Texas, had a measles outbreak. So, you can pretty quickly see for people who’ve come into the country illegally, with no vaccination history at all, it has created flareups in the United States.”

Kennedy’s visit comes the same week the DeSantis administration released a proposed regulation that would eliminate four specific vaccines for public and private K-12 school enrollment in Florida. The HHS secretary said he “wasn’t familiar with the precise proposal.”

He added, “Vaccines are medical interventions … intended to permanently alter your immune system, and so parents ought to have a say in that, and the decision should be between the parents and the physician and not the state.”

Kennedy’s Florida visit will continue Thursday, when he will meet with U.S. Rep. Laurel Lee at a Tampa high school to discuss the recently restored Presidential Fitness Test to encourage young people to stay active and build healthy habits.