U.S. Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) amplified a news report about a U.S. measles outbreak spreading beyond its Utah-Arizona epicenter this week. The Senator took aim at the vaccine skepticism of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for allegedly contributing to a preventable but escalating health crisis and a nationwide drop in vaccination rates.
On social media, Markey wrote: “Measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000. RFK Jr. must resign.”
Measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000.
RFK Jr. must resign. pic.twitter.com/MfBcjbW78s
— Ed Markey (@EdMarkey) October 27, 2025
[NOTE: During the measles outbreak in Texas earlier this year, Secretary Kennedy wrote an op-ed for Fox News in which he acknowledged that vaccines “not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons.”
Still, Kennedy allowed that “the decision to vaccinate is a personal one” and asserted, to the consternation of the scientific and medical community, that “good nutrition remains a best defense against most chronic and infectious illnesses.” The American Academy of Pediatrics responded with a factcheck saying that “extensive research indicates that the only safe and effective way to prevent measles is to receive the recommended two doses of the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine.”]
According to data, 77% of U.S. counties and jurisdictions have seen drops in vaccination rates, and “most cases so far have occurred among unvaccinated school-aged children.”
MAGA-aligned U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), who represents the 3.4 million people in the State of Utah, replied to Markey, “Are these U.S. citizens getting the measles?”
Markey replied to Lee: “Please elaborate. Who do you think should die from measles?”
Please elaborate. Who do you think should die from measles? https://t.co/QddxvgDkfx
— Ed Markey (@EdMarkey) October 27, 2025
A notable majority of MAGA supporters on X are defending Lee’s response by suggesting that immigrants are to blame for the spreading of the disease. (NOTE: a Google search about whether the outbreak is linked to immigrant communities delivers the following response: “Recent measles outbreaks in Utah have been linked to communities with low vaccination rates, not to an immigrant community.”)
Note: The Utah Department of Health and Human Services strongly encourages at least 1 dose of the vaccine (MMR) for all people older than 1 year of age, even if they have not been exposed to someone with measles.
According to HHS, during the 2024/2025 school year, about 10% of in-person kindergarten students in Utah had an exemption for the MMR vaccine or were “missing documentation to show they were vaccinated against measles.”
Robert H. Shmerling, MD, of Harvard Medical School, said of the MMR vaccine, “Two doses of the current vaccine provide 97% protection — much higher than most other vaccines. Rarely, a person gets measles despite being fully vaccinated. When that happens, the disease tends to be milder and less likely to spread to others.”
Interviewed by NBC News for a special “Vaccine Divide” report, Dr. Sean O’Leary, an infectious diseases expert with the American Academy of Pediatrics, said about the lower vaccination rates that “we’ll see more children die — tragically — from diseases that are essentially entirely preventable.”