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The Centers for Disease Control recently buried a warning about the potential for more measles outbreaks and the need for people to get vaccinated, according to a new report from ProPublica.
Public Health experts wonder if this evidence that the federal agency is falling in line under its new leadership.
Robert F. Kennedy jr. has been the head of the Department of Health and Human Services for three months now. Before that, he was an environmental attorney who was best known as a professional vaccine critic, so it may not be surprising that a report urging folks to get vaccinated was pulled before it was posted on the CDC website.
Host Bonnie Petrie Spoke with ProPublica investigative reporter Patricia Callahan, who broke the story.
CALLAHAN: So the CDC has a division inside it that was created in the wake of COVID. And the intention of it is to be almost like a National Weather Service for disease outbreaks. It's supposed to predict what diseases are heading our way, like meteorologists would predict storms.
These are modelers, scientists who study data and use it to make predictions about how disease might behave. And the CDC expert team looked at this and their forecast found that the risk of catching measles is high in areas near outbreaks where vaccination rates are lagging. And the communications team at the CDC got together to work on a plan to roll out this information for the public, right? Because measles is on a lot of people's minds right now, and they wanted to make sure to get that information out in ways that the general public could understand. What is your risk for measles?
And their rollout plan, which I got a copy of, emphasized the need to get vaccinated because the best protection to avoid measles is to get vaccinated. It's a very effective vaccine. And as they were about to roll out this plan, they got an email from somebody within their ranks who said that after discussion in the CDC director's office, and I'm quoting from the email, leadership does not want to pursue putting this on the website, and so this plan never saw the light of day.
PETRIE: I know you reached out to the CDC about this…
CALLAHAN: Yeah, I asked the CDC, why did you pull the plug on this? Why didn't this see the light of day? And the media office said, well, we didn't release it because it doesn't say anything that the public doesn't already know and and the spokesperson reiterated that the CDC continues to recommend vaccines as the best way to protect against measles.
PETRIE: It’s what they said next that became the foundation of your story…
CALLAHAN: CDC said the decision to vaccinate is a personal one, and that people should consult with their healthcare provider to understand their options to get a vaccine, and should be informed about the potential risks and benefits associated with the vaccines.
PETRIE: Which doesn’t sound at all like the CDC…
CALLAHAN: That is absolutely a shift in how the CDC usually talks about vaccines that can save lives. Normally, it doesn't mince words when it comes to vaccines. They have always projected confidence, and it shifted to this is your personal choice, and you need to think about the benefits, but you also need to think about the risks. That is a different message then we've heard from the CDC in the past.
PETRIE: But it's a message we’ve heard from RFK Jr. in the past. Now, you talked to Jennifer Nuzzo, who’s the director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University School of Public Health, about this. What did she say?
CALLAHAN: So what Jennifer Nuzzo said was that this shift in messaging and the squelching of this kind of routine announcement is alarming to her, and she said that she was actually stunned by that language about personal choice and risk and the statement that the CDC sent me. They made it sound like this was a coin toss. And the number of cases that we have now is more than the number we had all of last year. And as you know, in Texas, there are areas where this is really raging, and it's spread to multiple states. That's not a coin toss at this point, she said.
PETRIE: A lot of folks, in Texas and elsewhere, might say that a little caution around vaccines is not a bad thing…
CALLAHAN: Well, I think people forget that measles can be deadly. It's a disease that can kill both children and adults. About one to three in 1000 people will die of measles. And another risk of measles is even if you have a case that seems like you're miserable for a week but you're better, research has shown that even a mild case can wipe out your immunity to other things. It can cause almost an immunity amnesia. So when that virus that your body has seen before comes back, they don't recognize it, and you get sick again. And so that's why people in public health circles feel so strongly that this is something that we have a vaccine for that can prevent serious illness, disability and death.
PETRIE: Two children have died in the West Texas outbreak so far, which means we’re at two out of 541 as of Friday, though I’m sure there are many cases unaccounted for out there. Do you know if Secretary Kennedy, personally, had anything to do with the report being kept off the web?
CALLAHAN No, we don't know. We do not know. I mean, I asked HHS what role, if any, Secretary Kennedy played in the decision not to release this risk assessment. And the communications director at HHS said that this was just, an ongoing process to improve communication. Nothing more, nothing less. I would say also, though, that the spokesperson for Secretary Kennedy reiterated that Secretary Kennedy believes that the decision to vaccinate is a personal one, right? And so the same messaging that the CDC put out was the same messaging that Secretary Kennedy's spokesperson put out.
