Today, the Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed two more measles-associated deaths after local coroners reported these individuals died from complications associated with measles. That's four total measles-associated deaths in our Commonwealth and the first Pennsylvania has seen in 35 years. These are tragedies, and four families are grieving.
Pennsylvania is experiencing the worst measles outbreak in the country. To date, we have 693 recorded cases of measles in 38 of our 67 counties. This disease was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000 — yet decades later, we are seeing it surge due to lower vaccination rates.
This serious situation continues to be made worse by RFK Jr. playing games with public health and safety. It's long past time for
@SecKennedy to stop stoking vaccine skepticism and misinformation and compromising the serious mission of the nation’s public health agencies. It is also deeply concerning to learn that the Secretary personally intervened in an otherwise administrative process to direct the CDC to not report these Pennsylvania deaths, presumably because it doesn’t fit his phony narrative.
Measles is preventable. I continue to urge all Pennsylvanians to speak with your trusted health care provider and get the best possible information to protect yourself and your family against this deadly disease.