A worker applies an adhesive bandage to a child at a vaccination clinic in Minneapolis’ Corcoran Park in August 2023. Minneapolis is among the cities forced to cancel vaccinations after cutoffs in federal funding. (Courtesy of City of Minneapolis)

The number of measles cases is approaching 1,000 across 29 states, according to newly released federal statistics. Even as the outbreaks grow, more local governments are complaining that their efforts to combat measles with vaccination clinics have been shut down by abrupt federal funding cuts.

As of May 1, a total of 935 confirmed cases had been reported, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They were in Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.

There have been three confirmed deaths, two children in Texas and one adult in New Mexico, all unvaccinated.

Metro Nashville, the combined county and city government in Tennessee, and three other local governments sued on April 24 over reductions in federal public health funding, saying the abrupt $11 billion in cuts nationwide forced Nashville to cancel vaccination clinics needed to combat this year’s measles outbreak. Colorado and a group of other states sued earlier in April, mentioning the impact of cuts on their ability to control measles, flu and other vaccine-preventable illnesses.

Others joining the April 24 lawsuit: Harris County, Texas, where Houston is located; Columbus, Ohio; Kansas City, Missouri; and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union. They called the cuts “a massive blow… at a time where state and local public health departments need to address burgeoning infectious diseases and chronic illnesses, like the measles, bird flu, and mpox.”

The funding cuts also forced Minneapolis to shut down clinics in March that had been scheduled to run through June, said Luisa Pessoa-Brandão, director of health initiatives for the city’s health department.

Last year the city’s clinics served 501 patients with 1,475 vaccination shots, including against measles, she said. About 30% of children in the city are not fully vaccinated, much too high to ensure unvaccinated children won’t fall victim to measles outbreaks like the current one, she added.

“There’s fear and hesitancy about the vaccine, based on some of the misinformation out there,” Pessoa-Brandão said. “There are other factors — access [to medical care] and the COVID pandemic, which delayed people getting vaccinations. We’re playing catch-up the last few years.”

Stateline reporter Tim Henderson can be reached at thenderson@stateline.org.

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