A Model For HHS: New Mexico Measles Outbreak Was Curtailed With Mass Vaccination Campaign

from the no-shit dept

With RFK Jr. and his version of HHS entirely out to lunch on the ongoing measles issue in America, it’s been left to states and local medical professionals to try to figure out how to do combat with one of the most infectious diseases on the planet. In a sane world with a real, big boy executive branch, HHS would be taking the lead on this sort of thing. Since Kennedy’s eugenics-lite belief system promotes a “survival of the fittest” mentality instead, we get to examine how different states and local governments react to measles outbreaks. South Carolina, for instance, appears to be largely uninterested at the governmental level in doing anything at all about the failure in data-sharing, case-reporting, and combating the bullshit religious exemptions to vaccinations that led to a loss of herd immunity to begin with.

New Mexico, which suffered its own measles outbreak last year, went the opposite route. And when you compare that state’s response specifically to Texas’, as they were both part of the same outbreak, the lessons learned are even more instructive.

Texas declared the outbreak within its borders over on August 18, with an end tally of 762 cases. In New Mexico, officials declared its outbreak, which began in February, over on September 26, with a total of just 99 cases.

One of the key differences, according to a new study, was that in New Mexico, the rapid spread of the highly infectious virus spurred a massive surge in measles vaccinations among children and adults. Overall, shots of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine increased 55 percent statewide from January to September compared to the same period in 2024.

This is all based on a recent CDC study. I simply must point out that it’s quite interesting to see this uptick in vaccinations. It’s what I’ve advocated for, of course, but it certainly calls into question the reasoning for having not vaccinated before the reports of the outbreak. If these were more religious exemptions, did people suddenly become less religious? If it was fear of all the nonsense dangers RFK Jr. warns about with the MMR vaccines that kept them from vaccinating before, are they suddenly less afraid now? Or was all of that performative excuse making for people not wanting to get a simple shot in their arm?

Regardless, it was a coordinated effort by New Mexico government groups and local doctors to be transparent about the outbreak, its dangers, and mobilize for mass vaccinations.

In the MMWR report, officials explained that they had a data-driven response effort that assessed local vaccination coverage and real-time vaccine inventories and targeted mobile vaccination delivery. They went all out on communication, releasing 12 health advisories to clinicians, 26 press releases to the public, and 184 social media posts. They also launched a regularly updated measles outbreak data page with information in English and Spanish. Finally, they set up a measles helpline, which got over 2,000 calls during the outbreak. The officials noted that their response to the outbreak was built on lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In all, “the strategies implemented in New Mexico could serve as a model for other states that are addressing measles cases or outbreaks,” they concluded.

Or, gee, I don’t know, how about it being a model for the federal fucking agency with a charter that centers on keeping Americans healthy and combating infectious diseases? Why is this left to the states to figure out? States can be laboratories for democracy all we like, but infectious diseases don’t respect state borders.

Instead of spending time licking his wounds from his recent losses in federal court, it sure would be nice if Kennedy could spend that time actually getting involved in combating measles, a disease that could only be resurrected thanks to the misinformation he spewed for decades.

Filed Under: cdc, health & human services, measles, new mexico, outbreaks, rfk jr., texas, vaccines