NEW YORK — Facing a surge of measles cases in New York state’s rural counties, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul issued an executive order on Monday allowing paramedics, pharmacists, midwives and other non-physicians to administer vaccines.

Hochul’s decision to declare a “state disaster emergency” comes amid the nation’s worst measles outbreak in more than 30 years and an eruption in neighboring Pennsylvania that is the largest that any single state has experienced since the early 1990s.

As of Oct. 3, New York had reported 108 total cases, its highest number since 2019. Pennsylvania has recorded more than 1,000 cases this year, and state officials there have attributed five deaths to the disease (so far the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has only confirmed two of them.) There have been no deaths in New York.

As of October 1, the CDC had recorded more than 3,887 confirmed cases this year in the United States.

“No one should get seriously ill or die from a vaccine-preventable disease. That is why I have taken steps to increase the number of health professionals who can vaccinate and test,” Hochul said in a news  release.

Also on Monday, New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, announced that the state would join 15 other Democratic-led states in suing the Trump administration over its decision to scale back the childhood vaccination schedule. Joining in the lawsuit are the state attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin, and the governor of Pennsylvania.

Measles is a respiratory virus that leads to symptoms of fever and rash, and can cause serious health complications, such as pneumonia and even death. It’s highly contagious and can be contracted through exposure to contaminated air or surfaces. It is entirely preventable, however, with the two-dose MMR, or measles, mumps, and rubella, vaccine.

Children under a year old, who are typically too young to receive the first dose of the vaccine, are highly susceptible.

Through a robust vaccination campaign, measles was declared to be effectively eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, according to the CDC. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, anti-vaccination sentiment began to rise, and measles cases have surged over the past  two years.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is an outspoken vaccine skeptic and has opposed vaccine mandates. Under Kennedy, the agency has called into question the safety and efficacy of vaccines and  recommended fewer vaccines for children. The move has prompted most states to unlink their vaccine guidance from federal recommendations and form their own health alliances and standards.

Combined with efforts by Republican-leaning states to weaken vaccine mandates, the federal shift has contributed to a decline in the vaccination rate among kindergarteners and a resulting increase in measles cases.

According to health policy research group KFF, 92.4% of kindergartners received the MMR vaccination for the 2025-2026 school year, compared with 95% in the 2019-2020 school year. During the last school year, 39 states had MMR vaccination rates below 95% — the minimum considered necessary to prevent community spread, according to KFF.

Katrine Wallace, an epidemiologist at the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois Chicago praised governors for taking action to stop the spread of measles. But Wallace said it’s critical that the federal government encourage people to get vaccinated to slow the spread of the disease.

“There really isn’t a national promotion of ‘Hey, we’re having an outbreak right now. Please vaccinate your kids. The MMR is safe and effective, and it prevents measles.’ That’s not being pumped out on social media. That’s not being put on TV,” Wallace said. “So this administration is not promoting the best tool that we have to prevent severe disease from viruses.”

Nationally, the CDC reports that 352 people have been hospitalized this year due to measles. Of the 3,887 confirmed cases, 61% are people younger than 19 and 95% were not vaccinated or had an unknown vaccine status.

According to CDC data, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, Wisconsin, Texas, and Virginia are experiencing the highest number of cases.

The rise in cases under Kennedy’s leadership has prompted Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro to call for the secretary’s ouster.

“He’s making it harder for governors to be able to keep people safe in our communities. I’m actually shocked that the president is letting him get away with this,” Shapiro said in a recent NBC News interview. “I don’t know why he’s still allowing him to even serve in the role”.

Stateline reporter Shalina Chatlani can be reached at schatlani@stateline.org.

Nearly five years ago, Chase Johnson was cured of breast cancer — but not of the profound anxiety that it would return.

When Johnson was originally diagnosed in 2021, the resident of Cary, North Carolina, was only 31 — nearly a decade away from the age at which regular mammograms are recommended — and she had no history of breast cancer in her family. She only got screened because her dog, Cato, kept poking her chest with his nose, which helped her discover a lump.

Doctors discovered that Johnson had stage 2B triple-negative breast cancer, a rare and aggressive form. They treated her with chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery, and in 2022, they declared her cancer free. Her oncologist warned her, however, that there was a 40% chance the cancer would return.

Anxious about that prospect, Johnson enrolled in a clinical trial at the Cleveland Clinic testing a new breast cancer vaccine, developed in partnership with Anixa Biosciences. That vaccine has shown positive early results: In nearly three-quarters of the participants, including Johnson, it has generated an immune response.

“It’s just so promising and as a patient, it gave me a lot of hope,” said Johnson, now 37. “I feel much more protected having done it.”

In the past two decades, there has been steady progress in developing vaccines for cancer. The vaccine Johnson is taking isn’t one of them, but researchers are especially excited about the potential of mRNA vaccines, which use synthetic genetic instructions to teach a person’s immune system how to recognize and destroy unique proteins found on cancer cells.

Just last month, pharmaceutical companies Moderna and Merck announced that a personalized mRNA cancer vaccine, combined with an immunotherapy drug, had succeeded in a late-stage trial for skin cancer. The news raised hopes that a wave of new cancer vaccines could be just over the horizon.

But will Americans be willing to take them?

Many doctors and researchers are concerned that vaccine misinformation — amplified by the Trump administration — and the resulting increase in vaccine hesitancy could blunt the impact of the new vaccines. In particular, they cite the false claim, which originated with mRNA COVID vaccines, that mRNA vaccines can super-charge tumors, creating so-called turbo cancer. 

Many point to the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine as a cautionary tale.

Some strains of HPV, which is spread through sexual contact, can cause cancer of the cervix, vagina, vulva, penis, anus, mouth, throat, head or neck. In 2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved an HPV vaccine for girls and women ages 9 to 26, and three years later the agency expanded approval to include boys and young men. Ideally, vaccination should occur before a person is sexually active.

The HPV vaccine is safe and extremely effective. But decades of misinformation, some of it spread by state and federal lawmakers, has reduced uptake: For four years in a row, vaccination rates for teenagers have not budged, and there is wide variation among states.

“I don’t think we can overstate the impact that the pandemic and the misinformation and disinformation around vaccines has had on all vaccines, including HPV vaccine,” said Dannell Boatman, an assistant professor at the West Virginia University Cancer Institute.

A 2024 study Boatman co-authored, funded by Merck, found that the HPV misinformation on social media platforms was most pervasive in the users’ comments.

“There were some really wild conspiracy theories about girls in India being killed with the HPV vaccine,” Boatman said. “We also were able to identify a lot of mistrust of authority.”

Boatman said she expects a similar dynamic with breast cancer vaccines, especially since some people already are spreading misinformation that mammograms can cause cancer. But she hopes an ongoing study on “inoculation theory” will help researchers combat false claims.

“Basically, you forewarn someone that they’re going to be exposed to misinformation,” she said, “and then you refute it or provide them just a little bit of evidence about why it doesn’t work.”

History of lawsuits

Before he joined the Trump administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. filed complaints and lawsuits against Merck, the maker of the HPV vaccine, and claimed on social media that the “vaccine appears to be increasing the risk of cervical cancer in vaccinated age groups just as COVID vaccines raise the risk of COVID.”

Early in his tenure, Kennedy dismissed all 17 members of the HHS vaccine advisory panel, replacing some of them with vaccine skeptics. Under his leadership, HHS also has altered the child vaccine schedule for certain diseases, including HPV. So far, those changes have been blocked in federal court.

HHS did not respond to a Stateline request for comment.

Last month, after signing an executive order separating the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine into three separate shots, Republican President Donald Trump suggested, falsely, that each individual vaccine could fill a “bottle of soda.” The administration has also proposed cutting funding for vaccine research and studies on vaccine hesitancy.

Epidemiologist Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said Kennedy’s appointment spurred the creation of the Vaccine Integrity Project, a partnership between the center and the American Medical Association that tries to bolster public trust in vaccines. The project has published evidence reviews of some of the vaccines criticized by the Trump administration.

“To a young parent today who wants to do the right thing, they want to protect their child, they’re so confused because they hear from the leaders in public health in their government talk about these vaccines killing people,” Osterholm said.

“The credibility of 80 years of public health work of vaccines in this country is threatened because of confusion.”

In May, the center published an evidence review showing that HPV vaccines are not associated with serious side effects and reduce the risk of cervical cancer by 80% in individuals who are vaccinated by age 16, and by 66% in people vaccinated after 16.

Resistance from state lawmakers 

But the HPV vaccine has long faced resistance from some conservative lawmakers, who associate it with teen sex.

Last year, 78% of U.S. teenagers ages 13-17 had received at least one dose of the HPV vaccine and 63% had completed the full HPV vaccination series. But in some conservative-leaning states, the rates were much lower: The complete vaccination rate in Mississippi was only 31%. Oklahoma (46%), Kentucky (50%), Arkansas (52%) and South Carolina (55%) also had particularly low rates.

At the other end of the spectrum were Rhode Island (85%), Hawaii (82%) and Massachusetts (80%).

Some states, including Alabama and Oregon, have made recent efforts to boost their  HPV vaccine rates.

But other states, including Iowa, have enacted laws limiting access to the HPV vaccine.  Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds in May signed a law prohibiting Iowans under 18 from consenting to vaccinations related to sexually transmitted diseases and infections, including HPV.

Idaho Democratic state Rep. Brooke Green said anti-vaccine sentiment is increasing among residents of her state — and among her legislative colleagues. As a survivor of breast cancer, Green is excited about the prospect of new cancer vaccines, but she fears that rising hesitancy could be hurdle to widespread adoption.

She noted that Idaho Republicans introduced a bill this year that would have established a two-year moratorium on mRNA immunizations for children and pregnant women. Similar bills were introduced in at least a dozen other states, though none were enacted.

This year, lawmakers in 34 states introduced 209 bills seeking to loosen vaccination rules, limit access to certain kinds of vaccines or sow doubt about their safety, according to a recent analysis by The New York Times.

“We are seeing several attempts to address some of the scientific tools that are used to create vaccines, mRNA vaccines and so forth,” Green said. “As a cancer patient, these are life-saving tools that are helping us.”

“I’m thrilled to see these new innovative advancements in medicine for these vaccines. Now, is it going to be widely accepted?” said Green, who was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2024, a week before her mother was diagnosed with the same cancer.

“There will be some hesitation and some pushback. But look at the flip side: ‘Do you want breast cancer or do you not? Do you want skin cancer? Do you not?’”

Chase Johnson, meanwhile, said her anxiety has significantly decreased, especially after celebrating five years in remission this summer.

“I think I’ll always have some sort of low-grade anxiety about it,” Johnson said. “But it’s definitely at a much lower level than it was before vaccination. It’s given me a great, great amount of peace of mind.”

Stateline reporter Sofia Resnick can be reached at sresnick@stateline.org.

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Every August, families in our state settle into familiar routines: filling backpacks with school supplies, scheduling sports physicals and wondering how summer disappeared so quickly. But before the first school bell rings, every family should put one more item on its checklist: making sure everyone — including children, parents and grandparents — is up to date on recommended vaccinations.

That message takes on new urgency with the recent measles outbreak in our state, and President Trump’s executive order calling for significant changes to the nation’s childhood vaccine recommendations, including splitting the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine across separate visits. The order comes amid renewed claims linking childhood vaccines to autism — claims repeatedly contradicted by decades of scientific research.

As vaccine-preventable diseases resurge, Wisconsinites should follow the evidence and trusted medical expertise while making it easier — not harder — for families to protect their children.

All of this is especially fitting during National Immunization Awareness Month. Vaccines are one of the few health decisions that protect not only the individual but those around us as well. Infants, older adults, cancer patients and neighbors with weakened immune systems all benefit when more of us are protected.

Unfortunately, our state is already moving in the wrong direction. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services reports that only 66.9% of children reaching 24 months of age received the recommended routine vaccine series in 2025, down from 68.8% the year before. MMR vaccination rates among 2-year-olds have fallen below 80%, well below the approximately 95% coverage public health experts say is needed to prevent measles from spreading in a community.

This summer, the United States surpassed 2,700 measles cases, the highest total in 35 years. The overwhelming majority occurred among people who were unvaccinated, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Clark and Vernon counties had kindergarten MMR vaccination rates of just 44% and 50%, respectively, creating pockets where a single imported case could quickly spark a local outbreak.

Children are only part of the story. Protection against some diseases fades over time, which is why adults also need routine vaccinations. Many adults remain behind on their recommended flu, COVID-19, Tdap, RSV, pneumococcal and hepatitis B vaccinations. Staying current helps prevent serious illness and hospitalization, particularly among older adults and people with chronic health conditions.

And vaccination isn’t a rural issue or an urban issue — it’s a Wisconsin issue.

Whether you live in Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, Eau Claire, Platteville, Kenosha or a small town in between, viruses don’t recognize county lines or political boundaries. An outbreak in one community can quickly spread to another, disrupting families, straining health care workers and increasing costs for everyone.

Parents and adults deserve facts — not fear. They deserve public health recommendations grounded in evidence rather than unproven claims. Decades of research have found no credible evidence that vaccines cause autism, and the combined MMR vaccine has been safely used for generations.

The federal government may be changing its approach, but states still have a critical role in protecting public health. My hope is that Wisconsin will do the right thing: follow the evidence, listen to physicians and public health experts and ensure our children continue to have access to vaccinations based on sound medical evidence.

Families should rely on conversations with trusted physicians, nurses, pharmacists and local public health professionals rather than on misinformation circulating online.

As another school year begins, make vaccinations part of your family’s back-to-school routine, and don’t forget the adults in your life. Check immunization records through the Wisconsin Immunization Registry and ask your health care provider which vaccines are recommended for every member of your family.

The healthiest thing Wisconsin students can carry into school this year isn’t in a backpack. It’s the protection that comes from a community committed to keeping one another healthy and from public health decisions grounded in science.

Rob Gundermann is president and CEO of the Coalition of Wisconsin Aging & Health Groups (CWAG).

Guest opinion: As vaccine guidance shifts, Wisconsin families should follow the evidence is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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A measles outbreak in the southwestern corner of Wisconsin continues to grow.

As of Friday, the state Department of Health Services has identified 41 confirmed and 7 probable cases across Iowa, Lafayette and Grant counties.

All but one of the people infected with measles in Wisconsin this year have been unvaccinated, according to state data. Just over half of the cases have been in children and teens, while 44% are in adults.

State and local health officials are working to stop the highly-contagious virus from spreading further. But that work is being made more complicated by low vaccination rates in some communities.

DHS spokesperson Jennifer Miller said in an email that while the situation remains fluid, “we are seeing confirmed cases in pockets of our communities where individuals are under-vaccinated or unvaccinated.”  

“Whenever there are pockets of lower immunization coverage — whether due to geographic location, health care access, or personal reasons — highly contagious viruses can spread quickly,” Miller wrote.

Like the rest of the U.S., childhood vaccination rates have fallen in Wisconsin as parents’ uncertainty, and in some cases skepticism, around vaccines has spread in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

But state data shows some of the southwestern communities have had declining uptake of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine series well before pandemic. 

Only 60% of two-year-olds in Lafayette County had received one or more of the shots in 2025. Grant County’s rate was just under 64%.

Iowa County, where the majority of the recent measles cases have been located, had a rate similar to the statewide average at nearly 81%. But it’s still well below the threshold needed to prevent an outbreak at 95%.

Plain community may be affected

One community in the region that may be affected by lower vaccination rates are the Amish and Mennonite faith groups. The Christian communities are collectively known as Plain people because of their selective use of modern technology and conservative style of clothes.

Wisconsin has the fourth-largest Amish population of any state in the country, with an estimated 27, 535 Amish people living in the state as of 2025. The population data from Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania shows more than 3,000 Amish live across Grant, Lafayette and Iowa counties.

Mark Louden, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of Germanic linguistics, is an interpreter and cultural liaison for the state’s Plain communities. He said the Plain people in Grant and Lafayette Counties have strong family ties to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. 

“There’s a lot of back and forth, just like people traveling back and forth, visiting and so forth, especially this time of year,” he said.

Lancaster County is home to the largest Amish settlement in the U.S. and is at the center of a major outbreak of measles that has sickened more than 300 people in Pennsylvania.

Louden said that while Amish and Mennonites have community standards for technology, health care choices are left up to individuals and their families.

“Even the most conservative or traditional groups out there do access Western healthcare,” Louden said. “While there may be some families that have their kids not vaccinated at all, that’s pretty exceptional.”

Louden characterized Plain communities as “vaccine cautious.” He said they’re more likely to choose which shots they want their children to get instead of just following a recommended vaccination schedule.

But he said their caution or even distrust of vaccines doesn’t just come from their cultural beliefs.

“(It) has been amplified by what they hear from their non-Plain neighbors, who are going down internet rabbit holes and watching certain networks,” Louden said.

Jack Sauer, chair of the Lafayette County Board of Supervisors, said like many places in the U.S., his county used to have higher rates of vaccination. But he questioned how much national rhetoric that questions childhood vaccinations, including from leaders of President Donald Trump’s administration, have had an impact.

“If you listen to anyone on the federal level, there’s a lot of going back and forth on whether the immunizations are good for you or bad for your or whatever they are,” Sauer said. “But I know when I was growing up, which was a long time ago, they were pretty well acceptable.”

Given the rapid spread of cases in neighboring Iowa County, he expects to see more cases in his county before the outbreak is over.

Iowa County Health Officer Debbie Siegenthaler said in an email that her department is working to identify cases and potential exposures and make sure people have access to testing and vaccination.

She strongly encouraged residents to check their vaccination status through the Wisconsin Immunization Registry or through their healthcare provider, especially as children head back to school.

“With increasing number of cases, we want residents to be aware of measles even if they have not been notified of a direct exposure,” Siegenthaler said in the email.

The county is holding a community vaccination clinic at the Mineral Point Rescue Squad office on Monday, Aug. 24 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.

This story was originally published by WPR.

Low vaccination rates drive southwest Wisconsin measles outbreak is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.