The James H. Shannon Building (Building One), on the National Institutes of Health campus in Bethesda, Maryland. (Photo by Lydia Polimeni,/National Institutes of Health)

The Trump administration will review frozen grants to universities without using its controversial standards that discouraged gender, race and sexual orientation initiatives and vaccine research.

In a settlement agreement filed in Massachusetts federal court Monday, the National Institutes of Health and a group of Democratic attorneys general who’d challenged the new criteria for grant funding said the NIH would consider grant applications made up to Sept. 29, 2025, without judging the efforts related to diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, or vaccines.

The settlement provides an uncontested path for the agency while courts decide whether the administration can use its controversial analysis. The administration did not agree to permanently ditch its campaign to evaluate health research funding decisions based on schools’ DEI programs.

NIH officials “will complete their consideration of the Applications in the ordinary course of NIH’s scientific review process, without applying the Challenged Directives,” the settlement said, adding that the agency would “evaluate each application individually and in good faith.”

The settlement was signed by U.S. Department of Justice lawyers and the attorneys general of Massachusetts, California, Maryland, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.

In a Tuesday statement, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell said the agreement commits the Department of Health and Human Services to resume “the usual process for considering NIH grant applications on a prompt, agreed-upon timeline.” 

The 17 attorneys general sued in April over $783 million in frozen grants. 

A trial court and appeals court in Massachusetts sided with the states, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in August that the trial judge lacked the authority to compel the grants to be paid, especially in light of a similar decision involving the Education Department.

Wisconsin's health department is sticking with a recommendation that children receive the hepatitis B vaccine at birth. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

Wisconsin’s health department is reaffirming longstanding recommendations that all newborns get a vaccination for hepatitis B.

The Department of Health Services announced Thursday it has sent a memo to Wisconsin vaccination providers about the vaccine.

“DHS continues to recommend that all newborns receive the hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of birth, and then go on to complete the standard three-dose series within the first 18 months of life,” said Dr. Ryan Westergaard, chief medical officer in the DHS bureau of communicable diseases, at a media briefing Thursday.

Hepatitis B, a viral infection, can lead to lifelong liver disease, Westergaard said, including cirrhosis and liver cancer.

“Infants and young children are particularly at high risk,” he said. A baby infected with the virus has up to a 90% chance of developing chronic liver disease, he said.

Infants can be exposed during birth or through close contact with adults and caregivers “who may not even know that they carry the virus,” Westergaard added. “That’s why vaccination early in life is so important.”

DHS issued the announcement following a federal shift in vaccine policy, eliminating a recommendation in place since 1991 for newborns to receive the hepatitis B shot. The recommendation was eliminated Dec. 5 in a vote by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In June, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. replaced all 17 members of the advisory committee with a new group of appointees, many of whom are seen as vaccine skeptics.

CDC vaccine committee overturns decades-old hepatitis B recommendation for newborns

The decision to end the recommendation for all newborns to get the hepatitis B shot dismayed the leaders of  medical organizations, including the American Medical Association and the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

“For more than 30 years, the hepatitis B vaccine has been used safely and effectively in newborns,” Westergaard said Thursday. Since the 1991 recommendation was put in place, hepatitis B infections in children have declined by 99%, he said.

“This recommendation is grounded in decades of research showing that the vaccine is safe and effective, and it aligns with guidance of the American Academy of Pediatrics and other leading medical groups,” Westergaard said. “So, our message today is straightforward, hepatitis B and its long-term health consequences are preventable. And routine childhood vaccination remains one of our most effective tools we have to protect children’s health and prevent lifelong disease.”

Westergaard said there has been no change in insurance coverage for the vaccine and that the hepatitis B shot remains among the vaccines available through the Vaccine for Children’s program for patients without health insurance.

ACIP also recommended blood testing for antibodies before giving the rest of the hepatitis B series shots for infants and young children, but Westergaard said that recommendation is not supported by scientific evidence.

The presence of hepatitis B antibodies in adults is a good indicator that they are protected against an infection, he said. “There’s no science suggesting that that same strategy works for newborns and children,” he added.

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

SUBSCRIBE

Members of a key CDC advisory committee, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, met in Atlanta on Dec. 4. Maya Homan/Georgia Recorder

ATLANTA — A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention committee voted to eliminate a recommendation that all newborn babies receive a vaccine against hepatitis B, ending a policy that has been in place since 1991 to protect Americans against an incurable liver disease that can lead to cirrhosis, cancer and liver failure. 

The current three-dose series for hepatitis B includes one vaccine administered to infants within 24 hours of birth, and subsequent booster shots given one month and six months after the initial dose. The universal vaccination policy is credited with a 99% drop in serious infections among American children between 1990 and 2019.

In its updated guidelines, the agency will continue to recommend that babies born to mothers who test positive for hepatitis B receive a vaccine at birth. However, in all other cases, the decision will be left to “individual-based decision-making,” a change that experts say will lead to an increase in chronic hepatitis B infections. The new recommendation also suggests that parents delay the first dose of the vaccine until at least two months after birth.

Friday’s decision comes after an 8-3 vote from a key CDC advisory committee, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which is charged with setting national guidelines around which people should be vaccinated against a wide range of preventable diseases and when those vaccines should be administered. The recommendations play a key role in determining which vaccines insurance companies are willing to cover and how accessible those immunizations are to the public.

The two-day meeting included several presentations from prominent anti-vaccine activists, including Aaron Siri, a vaccine injury lawyer who has previously represented U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and reportedly helped him vet health officials for President Donald Trump’s administration. At least two of them — Cynthia Nevison, a climate researcher who has ties to anti-vaccine groups, and Mark Blaxill, a former consultant and author — were recently hired by the CDC.

Retsef Levi, an ACIP member and professor of operations management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, called the updated recommendation a “very positive change in policy,” arguing that blanket vaccine recommendations force newborns to serve as “a safety net for adults’ mistakes.”

But Dr. Cody Meissner, another member of the committee who also serves as a professor of pediatrics and medicine at Dartmouth College, argued that the vaccines play a crucial role in protecting infants from the disease, and said there was no valid scientific evidence to support the changes implemented by the panel.

“Thoughtful inquiry is always commendable,” he told the committee. “But that inquiry should not be confused with baseless skepticism, which is what I think we’re encountering here.”

Sandra Fryhofer, a doctor and liaison for the American Medical Association, also criticized the move, arguing that implementing guidelines based on the mother’s hepatitis status will leave babies vulnerable to developing the disease from other sources, such as infected relatives. According to CDC data, roughly half of people with hepatitis B do not know they are infected.

“Are we going to test every patient that has access to or touches that baby?” she asked the committee Thursday. “I mean, that’s not something that’s really doable.”

The updated recommendation for the hepatitis B vaccine mirrors COVID-19 vaccine guidelines passed by the same panel in September, which place new emphasis on the risks of immunizations, though the CDC’s own data shows that the vaccines are safe and effective for most people. 

A second vote, which passed 6-4, encourages parents to discuss using serology testing, a type of blood test that measures antibodies to gauge how well a patient’s immune system has responded to a disease, before allowing their children to receive additional doses of the hepatitis B vaccine.

The changed recommendations will not prevent doctors from administering hepatitis B vaccines to newborns, but critics say they could create additional hurdles for families and healthcare providers.

“Adding excessive or ambiguous language around shared decision-making for routine vaccines muddies the waters, creates a false sense of scientific uncertainty and places unnecessary burden on clinicians and families,” said Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, who was representing the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

Children enrolled in Medicaid or the Vaccines for Children program, which provides free immunizations to children who are uninsured or underinsured, will continue to be eligible for hepatitis B vaccines at birth under the new recommendations, according to program liaisons.

Federal fallout

As with the new COVID-19 vaccine recommendations, the updated hepatitis B guidelines will not take effect until being officially signed off by the acting CDC Director, Jim O’Neill.

But amid shifting federal guidance on public health policies, a growing number of state and federal officials are developing their own policies rather than relying on the agency’s guidelines. In a Dec. 3 letter sent ahead of ACIP’s meeting, more than 30 members of Congress urged O’Neill to maintain the existing recommendations, regardless of what the advisory committee decided.

“There is no data to support delaying the first immunization to one-month, four years, or 12 years of age,” the letter states.

U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican who heads the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, also called for O’Neill to forgo signing the updated recommendations.

“As a liver doctor who has treated patients with hepatitis B for decades, this change to the vaccine schedule is a mistake,” he wrote in a social media post after the vote. “The hepatitis B vaccine is safe and effective. The birth dose is a recommendation, NOT a mandate.”

Cassidy, a doctor, cast the deciding vote to confirm Kennedy as health secretary on the condition that Kennedy “maintain the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices without changes.” Kennedy later backtracked on that promise, firing all 17 previous members of the committee and replacing them with a slate of hand-picked appointees, many of whom are seen as vaccine skeptics.

In a Thursday social media post, Cassidy criticized the committee for its plans to hear testimony from Siri, the vaccine injury lawyer.

“The ACIP is totally discredited,” he added. “They are not protecting children.”

Children are pictured at an Autism Speaks Light it Up Blue Autism Awareness Celebration at Chicago Children's Museum in April 2017. State Medicaid agencies are struggling to pay for applied behavior analysis, an intensive therapy for children with autism. (Photo by Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images for Autism Speaks)

State Medicaid agencies are struggling to pay for an intensive therapy for children with autism — and looming federal Medicaid cuts are likely to make the problem worse.

Parents of children and young adults who receive applied behavior analysis, or ABA, worry states’ cost-saving measures will make it harder for them to get vital services. About 5% of children ages 3 to 17 on public insurance have autism spectrum disorder, compared with 2% who have private insurance, according to a CDC survey.

Many families and autism therapists say ABA can help improve communication and social skills, sharpen memory and focus, and replace challenging behaviors with positive ones. ABA therapy can range from 10 to 40 hours per week in different settings, including home and school. That makes it expensive.

In 2014, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services mandated that all state Medicaid programs cover comprehensive autism services for children. It did not explicitly require coverage of ABA, but by 2022, every state Medicaid program covered ABA.

In addition, more kids are getting diagnosed with autism as screenings increase. As a result, state spending on the service has skyrocketed. In Indiana, for example, Medicaid spending on ABA therapy grew from $21 million in 2017 to $611 million in 2023. The sharp increase has prompted Indiana, and other states, to take steps to control costs.

Meanwhile, federal auditors have begun examining states’ coverage of ABA services to ferret out fraud and abuse.

Mariel Fernandez, vice president of government affairs at the Council of Autism Service Providers, a nonprofit trade association, acknowledged that states are facing difficult choices.

“For such a costly and intensive service, the states need to explore how to best reimburse this benefit so that it’s sustainable and promotes quality,” said Fernandez, who is also a board-certified behavioral analyst. “Is [the rate] going to bankrupt Medicaid? Is it going to ensure that people are actually receiving the service?”

The Medicaid changes included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that President Donald Trump signed in July will increase the pressure: The law includes more than $900 billion in federal spending cuts over the next decade. Medicaid is funded jointly by the federal government and the states.

Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has described autism as a rapidly growing “epidemic” in the U.S. and has made it a major focus of his tenure. Kennedy has promoted the debunked theory that there’s a link between childhood vaccines and autism.

Curbing costs

Several states this year have considered curbing ABA costs by capping therapy hours, tightening provider enrollment rules, reducing reimbursement rates or changing patient eligibility rules. A bill in New York, for example, would establish a 680-hour annual cap on ABA services.

But nowhere has the issue been more prominent than in Indiana, where Medicaid has covered ABA therapy since 2016.

Governor’s group recommends ABA usage cap, rate changes as Medicaid costs rise

Historically, Indiana Medicaid has reimbursed ABA providers for most services at a rate of 40%, regardless of what they charged.

That “created some very strange incentives for a small portion of the provider network,” said Jason McManus, president of Indiana Providers of Effective Autism Treatment (InPEAT), which represents smaller ABA providers in Indiana and larger providers that operate in Indiana and elsewhere. “You had folks who were charging exorbitant amounts for the service.”

Beginning in 2024, Indiana lowered its reimbursement rate to about $68 per hour — and received plenty of pushback.

“That did have an impact on the provider community,” McManus said. “You had a lot of folks, smaller shops, who ended up closing their doors or consolidating with other organizations. So that was disruptive.”

And that year, the HHS inspector general issued a report which found that Indiana’s Medicaid program made at least $56 million in “improper” payments to ABA therapy providers in 2019 and 2020.

The state’s rapidly rising ABA costs and the federal audit prompted Republican Gov. Mike Braun to issue an executive order earlier this year creating a working group to examine ways to cut costs without compromising quality.

The group crafted recommendations to correct the problems identified in the federal audit and put ABA coverage on a financially sustainable path. Without changes in the state’s reimbursement policies, the group concluded, Indiana’s Medicaid spending on ABA therapy would reach a projected $825 million by 2029.

This month, Braun unveiled the group’s recommendations, which include the creation of a new ABA office to increase oversight and lower reimbursement rates, which the state has not yet detailed.

ABA allows people with autism “to obtain the highest level of independence that’s possible for them,” said McManus, who served on the working group.

“But from a state perspective, I can see how, if you’re purely just looking at the cost, you would say, ‘Wow, this is a cost that has grown over time, and if absent all other contexts, this is something we need to pay attention to, because it’s unsustainable.’”

Nebraska rate cut

In Nebraska, state officials also have been looking for ways to control spiraling ABA costs: Last year, Nebraska Medicaid paid out more than $85 million for ABA therapy, a surge from $4.6 million in 2020.

In July, the state announced that it would cut its Medicaid reimbursement rates for ABA, including a 48% cut to reimbursement for direct therapy provided by a behavior technician. That brought the rate to $74.80 per hour, down from about $144 per hour. Rates for therapy by physicians or other board-certified professionals also were reduced by about 37%.

Many providers saw the cuts coming, as the state has had the highest hourly reimbursement rate in the nation.

“It would be fiscally irresponsible of the state to maintain that,” said Leila Allen, vice president of external affairs at Lighthouse Autism Center, which has ABA therapy centers in Nebraska as well as in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and North Carolina.

Sam Wallach, president of Attain, an ABA therapy provider that operates in Nebraska and a dozen other states and Washington, D.C., said the service is “life-changing for children and families.” He views the ABA reduction as a “correction” that will make it feasible for Nebraska Medicaid to continue to cover it.

“The previous rates were well above what most Medicaid programs pay nationally, and while that created short-term benefits, it wasn’t realistic or sustainable,” Wallach said.

But some providers are taking issue with the way Nebraska went about those cuts.

For example, the state provided only 30 days’ notice before making the change. “There were providers that within 30 days had to tell their staff, ‘We’re so sorry. We have to cut your salary by ‘x’ percent in 30 days,’” Allen said.

Nebraska also didn’t examine how much it costs to provide ABA in the state, she said. The new rate is closer to what neighboring states, such as Iowa, pay. But therapists are few and far between in sparsely populated Nebraska, and families there often have to travel long distances to reach ABA providers.

“There was no cost survey to determine what the cost should be,” said Allen. “They didn’t take into account that you do have to pay people a little bit more to be able to work as behavior analysts in Nebraska.”

Finding ABA therapists in Nebraska is particularly difficult for families with older kids. Angela Gleason, executive secretary on the board of autism advocacy organization Arc of Nebraska, has a 13-year-old son with autism. She said many companies only serve very young children, up to age 6.

“So for families like mine, it’s then hard to even find a company that will serve his age and will provide that kind of support,” she said. To be able to afford therapy, her son Teddy has Medicaid coverage as his secondary insurance. ABA therapy helps him with socializing and speaking with his speech delay.

“He needs a lot more help throughout his day than a normal 13-year-old without autism might need,” Gleason said.

North Carolina court case

In North Carolina, the cost of covering autism services, including ABA, will total an estimated $639 million in fiscal 2026, up 425% from 2022, according to the state’s Medicaid agency. About five autism providers made up roughly 41% of the state’s increase in spending in fiscal year 2023-2024, according to the state.

Effective on Oct. 1, North Carolina Medicaid cut reimbursement rates for all kinds of health care services, arguing that state legislators had not budgeted enough money to keep up with rising costs. The reductions, which ranged from 3% to 10%, included a 10% cut to the reimbursement rate for autism services, including ABA therapy.

But the families of 21 children immediately sued the state Department of Health and Human Services to halt the move, arguing that it was discriminatory because it targeted children with disabilities.

Earlier this month, the families won a preliminary injunction temporarily halting the rate cut.

But families across the state are on edge as children with autism often see multiple providers — psychologists and speech language pathologists, for example — whose rate cuts were not paused, according to Allen, of Lighthouse Autism Center.

David Laxton, director of communications for the Autism Society of North Carolina, which is also a provider, said many providers won’t be able to absorb the rate reductions and continue operating.

“At some point, the math is not going to math,” Laxton said.

“It’s very stressful for families, because right now, there’s not an end in sight,” Laxton said. “There’s agreement that this [service] is very important, but there’s not been action to bring an end to the cuts.”

Stateline reporter Nada Hassanein can be reached at nhassanein@stateline.org.

In early November, the South Carolina Department of Public Health opened a pop-up mobile vaccine clinic in a library parking lot in Boiling Springs. Dozens of people in South Carolina’s Upstate region have been diagnosed with measles this fall. (Photo by Lauren Sausser/KFF Health News)

This article first appeared on KFF Health News.

BOILING SPRINGS, S.C. — Near the back corner of the local library’s parking lot, largely out of view from the main road, the South Carolina Department of Public Health opened a pop-up clinic in early November, offering free measles vaccines to adults and children.

Spartanburg County, in South Carolina’s Upstate region, has been fighting a measles outbreak since early October, with more than 50 cases identified. Health officials have encouraged people who are unvaccinated to get a shot by visiting its mobile vaccine clinic at any of its several stops throughout the county.

But on a Monday afternoon in Boiling Springs, only one person showed up.

“It’s progress. That progress is slow,” Linda Bell, the state epidemiologist with the Department of Public Health, said during a recent press briefing. “We had hoped to see a more robust uptake than that in our mobile health units.”

As South Carolina tries to contain its measles outbreak, public health officials across the nation are concerned that the highly contagious virus is making a major comeback. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has tallied more than 1,700 measles cases and 45 outbreaks in 2025. The largest started in Texas, where hundreds of people were infected and two children died.

For the first time in more than two decades, the United States is poised to lose its measles elimination status, a designation indicating that outbreaks are rare and rapidly contained.

South Carolina’s measles outbreak isn’t yet as large as those in other states, such as New Mexico, Arizona and Kansas. But it shows how a confluence of larger national trends — including historically low vaccination rates, skepticism fueled by the pandemic, misinformation and “health freedom” ideologies promoted by conservative politicians — have put some communities at risk for the reemergence of a preventable, potentially deadly virus.

“Everyone talks about it being the canary in the coal mine because it’s the most contagious infectious disease out there,” said Josh Michaud, associate director for global and public health policy at KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News. “The logic is indisputable that we’re likely to see more outbreaks.”

Schools and ‘small brush fires’

Spartanburg’s vaccination rate is among the lowest of South Carolina’s 46 counties. And that was true “even before COVID,” said Chris Lombardozzi, a senior vice president with the Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System.

Nearly 6,000 children in Spartanburg County schools last year — 10% of the total enrollment — either received an exemption allowing them to forgo required vaccinations or did not meet vaccine requirements, according to data published by the state.

Lombardozzi said the county’s low vaccination rate is tied to misinformation not only published on social media but also spread by “a variety of nonmedical leaders over the years.”

The pandemic made things worse. Michaud said that fear and misinformation surrounding COVID-19 vaccines “threw gasoline on the fire of people’s vaccine skepticism.” In some cases, that skepticism transferred to childhood vaccines, which historically have been less controversial, he said.

This made communities like Spartanburg County with low vaccination rates more vulnerable. “Which is why we’re seeing constant, small brush fires of measles outbreaks,” Michaud said.

In Spartanburg, the overall percentage of students with required immunizations fell from 95.1% to 90% between the 2020-21 and 2024-25 academic years. Public health officials say a minimum of 95% is required to prevent significant spread of measles.

Children who attend public and private schools in South Carolina are required to show that they’ve received some vaccinations, including the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, but religious exemptions are relatively easy to obtain. The exemption form must be notarized, but it does not require a doctor’s note or any disclosure about the family’s religious beliefs.

The number of students in South Carolina who have been granted religious exemptions has increased dramatically over the past decade. That’s particularly true in the Upstate region, where religious exemptions have increased sixfold from a decade ago. During the 2013-14 school year, 2,044 students in the Upstate were granted a religious exemption to the vaccine requirements, according to data published by The Post and Courier. By fall 2024, that number had jumped to more than 13,000.

Some schools are more exposed than others. The beginning of the South Carolina outbreak was largely linked to one public charter school, Global Academy of South Carolina, where only 17% of the 605 students enrolled during the 2024-25 school year provided documentation showing they had received their required vaccinations, according to data published by the Department of Public Health.

No one from Global Academy responded to interview requests.

‘Health freedom’

In April, after visiting a Texas family whose daughter had died from measles, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote on social media that the “most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine.” He made a similar statement during an interview on “Dr. Phil” later that month.

But these endorsements stand at odds with other statements Kennedy has made that cast doubt on vaccine safety and have falsely linked vaccines with autism. The CDC, under his authority, now claims such links “have been ignored by health authorities.”

“What would I do if I could go back in time and I could avoid giving my children the vaccines that I gave them?” he said on a podcast in 2020. “I would do anything for that. I would pay anything to be able to do that.”

Throughout 2025, he has made other misleading or unsupported statements. During a congressional hearing in September, Kennedy defended his past claims that he was not anti-vaccine but affirmed his stated position that no vaccines are safe or effective.

Emily Hilliard, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, told KFF Health News that Kennedy is “pro-safety, pro-transparency and pro-accountability.” Hilliard said HHS is working with “state and local partners in South Carolina” and in other states to provide support during the measles outbreaks.

Meanwhile, Kennedy has frequently championed the idea of health freedom, or freedom of choice, regarding vaccines, a talking point that has taken root among Republicans.

That has had a “chilling effect all the way down through state and local lawmakers,” Michaud said, making some leaders hesitant to talk about the threat that the ongoing measles outbreaks poses or the effectiveness and safety of the MMR vaccine.

Brandon Charochak, a spokesperson for South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, said the governor was not available to be interviewed for this article but referenced McMaster’s comment from October that measles “is a dangerous disease, but in terms of diseases, it’s not one that we should panic about.”

On a separate occasion that month, the Republican governor said he does not support vaccine mandates. “We’re not going to have mandates,” he said, “and I think we are responding properly.”

Even though the South Carolina Department of Public Health has repeatedly encouraged measles vaccines, the push has been notably quieter than the agency’s COVID-19 vaccine outreach efforts.

In 2021, for example, the agency partnered with breweries throughout the state for a campaign called “Shot and a Chaser,” which rewarded people who got a COVID-19 vaccine with a free beer or soda. By contrast, the pop-up measles vaccine clinic at the Boiling Springs Library featured no flashy signage, no freebies, and wasn’t visible from the library’s main entrance.

Edward Simmer, interim director of the Department of Public Health, would not speak to KFF Health News about the measles outbreak. During a legislative hearing in April, Republican state lawmakers voted against his permanent confirmation because of his past support for COVID-19 vaccines and masking. One lawmaker specifically criticized the agency during that hearing for the Shot and a Chaser campaign.

Public health officials in other states also have been blocked from new roles because of their COVID-19 response. In Missouri, where MMR vaccine rates have declined among kindergartners since 2020 and measles cases have been reported this year, Republican lawmakers rejected a public health director in 2022 after vaccine opponents protested his appointment.

In South Carolina, Simmer, lacking lawmakers’ confirmation, leads the public health agency in an interim capacity.

South Carolina Sen. Tom Davis of Beaufort was the only Republican on the Senate Medical Affairs Committee who voted to confirm Simmer in April. He told KFF Health News that his Republican colleagues raised valid questions about Simmer’s past support for COVID-19 vaccines.

But, Davis said, it would be “tremendously unfortunate and not beneficial from a public health perspective” if the Republican Party just took a stance against vaccines “as a matter of policy.”

The Department of Public Health had administered 44 doses of the MMR vaccine through its mobile health unit from October to mid-November. The last mobile vaccine clinic was scheduled for Nov. 24. But health officials are encouraged that patients are seeking vaccines elsewhere. The agency’s tracking system shows that providers across Spartanburg County administered more than twice as many measles vaccines in October as they did a year ago.

As of mid-November, more than 130 people remained in quarantine, most of them students at local elementary and middle schools. Cases have also been linked to a church and Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport.

“We’re reminding people that travel for the upcoming holidays increases the risk of exposures greatly,” said Bell, the state epidemiologist. “Due to that risk, we’re encouraging people to consider getting vaccinated now.”

KFF Health News correspondent Amy Maxmen contributed to this report. KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — an independent source of health policy research, polling and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services is continuing to recommend that anyone over 6 months old get an updated, annual version of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Meanwhile, the state’s DHS has put out a standing order for the vaccine. State officials say that will ensure that most Wisconsinites are able to get the COVID vaccine at pharmacies across Wisconsin without a prescription. 

This year’s Wisconsin DHS guidelines mirror guidance from a broad range of medical experts. And the guidance echoes what state and federal health officials have recommended in recent years.

Wisconsin’s recommendations stand in contrast, however, to recent moves at the federal level.

This year, the federal Food and Drug Administration has approved the new COVID vaccine for Americans ages 65 and older and for people with certain higher risk conditions. At the national level, a panel is set to meet later this week to discuss vaccine recommendations that will be provided to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

New U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a vaccine skeptic who has promoted false information about vaccines.

Wisconsin is now one of several states where health officials have moved to take statewide action on vaccines because of worries about how federal actions could impede vaccine access.

“In the past several months, leaders at federal agencies have made policy decisions and issued recommendations that aren’t supported by or directly contradict scientific consensus,” Dr. Ryan Westergaard, a chief medical officer within DHS, said during a news conference.

The latest announcement from Wisconsin’s health department comes a day after Democratic Gov. Tony Evers issued an executive order directing the Wisconsin DHS to put out its own COVID vaccine recommendations.

The order also attempts to ensure that Wisconsinites won’t have to pay out of pocket for COVID vaccines. It says that the state Office of the Commissioner of Insurance shall “direct all health insurers within their regulatory authority to provide coverage for the COVID-19 vaccine without cost-sharing to all their insureds.”

“Vaccines save lives, folks,” Evers said in a statement accompanying his order. “RFK and the Trump Administration are inserting partisan politics into healthcare and the science-based decisions of medical professionals and are putting the health and lives of kids, families, and folks across our state at risk in the process.”

State health officials are recommending that Wisconsinites get their new COVID vaccines to coincide with the fall spike in respiratory diseases. Those shots are recommended even for people who have gotten COVID shots in the past. That’s because the vaccines released in 2025 are designed to hedge against potentially waning immunity and to target newly emerging versions of the virus, Westergaard said.

“The same way that we recommend getting your flu shot booster every year, because the flu that’s going around this year might be slightly different than the flu that was going around last year, we recommend a COVID booster,” he said.

This story was originally published by WPR.

Wisconsin health department continues to urge new COVID-19 vaccine for anyone over 6 months old 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.

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Before the 1960s, hundreds of thousands of Americans faced measles infections each year. The advent of vaccination eliminated the disease in the United States by 2000. But outbreaks have returned to some U.S. communities as trust in vaccines wanes in many communities.

More than 1,300 measles cases have been confirmed this year across 41 states, the latest being Wisconsin. That’s after the state Department of Health Services on Saturday announced it confirmed nine measles infections in Oconto County — the first in Wisconsin this year. 

Each Oconto County infection involved exposure to a “common source during out-of-state travel,” the state health department said in a statement. 

“DHS, in coordination with the Oconto County Public Health, is working to identify and notify people who may have been exposed to the measles virus,” the statement said. “At this time no public points of exposure have been identified and the risk to the community remains low.”  

What should Wisconsin families know about measles? 

Wisconsin Watch spoke with two University of Wisconsin-Madison experts: Dr. Jim Conway, a professor in the Divisions of Infectious Diseases and Global Pediatrics; and Malia Jones, an assistant professor in the Department of Community and Environmental Health.

We gathered additional information from officials at multiple rural public health departments across Wisconsin and reports from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Below are some takeaways. 

When and where am I most susceptible to measles?

That depends on individual health and vaccination status. Very young people (especially infants too young to be vaccinated), older adults and people with compromised immune systems face higher risks for contracting measles and developing severe complications.

Measles tends to spread more easily in crowded urban environments and during travel. However, it can spread anywhere, as evidenced by recent rural outbreaks, including those in Texas, where hundreds of infections have been confirmed and two school children have died. All it really takes is exposure to an infected person. Measles is one of the most highly contagious known diseases. It can remain infectious in the air or on surfaces even after an infected person leaves the area.

To put it in perspective, measles is often reported to have an R nought value — the number used to describe contagiousness — between 12 and 18. That means if one person with measles walked into a room of vulnerable people, odds are they would infect 12 to 18 others in the room. 

What should I do if I start having measles symptoms?

Measles often starts with general cold-like symptoms such as fever, cough, runny nose and watery eyes, making it hard to immediately recognize. The rash typically appears a few days after infection — and after a contagious person may have exposed others. 

If you think you might have measles or have been exposed to it, contact your local health department or healthcare provider immediately — especially if you’re unvaccinated or traveled to an area where cases were reported.  Suspected cases can be reported to local health departments even before confirmation, allowing officials to respond more quickly. Experts recommend staying home while waiting for test results to avoid spreading the virus.

What are the risks of measles?

While some think of measles as a mild childhood illness that everyone used to get, it can be dangerous. The disease can lead to a range of complications, from ear infections and diarrhea to more severe pneumonia or brain-swelling encephalitis. Such brain inflammation can affect multiple parts of the body and even cause permanent damage, especially to the brain and hearing. 

Meanwhile, a  rare but fatal long-term brain disease called subacute sclerosing panencephalitis can develop years after the initial infection. 

Some people infected by measles may experience neurological issues or nerve damage later in life.

One lesser-known risk factor: Measles can disrupt the part of the immune system that remembers previous infections, a phenomenon known as immunity amnesia. That leaves people more vulnerable to future viruses for two to three years after a measles infection.

In higher-income countries measles kills 1 to 3 of every 1,000 people infected, 10% to 20% of infections requiring hospitalization — often due to pneumonia, dehydration or severe diarrhea. Encephalitis occurs in about 1 in 1,000 cases, and pneumonia occurs in about 5% of infections. Children who are malnourished or have limited access to medical care face significantly greater risks. 

U.S. health officials have confirmed three measles-related deaths this year. 

What if I’m unsure whether I’ve had measles or the vaccine?

If you were born before 1957, you’re generally considered immune to measles because the virus was so widespread during the pre-vaccine era. Many adults born in the 1960s and 1970s may assume they’re protected when, in fact, they were never fully vaccinated, or even vaccinated at all. A second dose of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine wasn’t added to routine childhood immunization schedules until 1989, so many adults missed one or both recommended doses. 

The bottom-line is if there’s any uncertainty around your vaccination status, it’s safe to get vaccinated again. There’s no harm in receiving an additional dose of the MMR vaccine. In fact, an extra dose is both safe and more practical — quicker and more cost-effective than getting a blood test to check your immunity.

“More is better,” Conway said. “This is not one of the vaccines that has particularly tough side effects.”

Staying up to date not only protects you from serious illness but also helps safeguard others in your community who may be more vulnerable to complications from measles.

What can I do to protect myself and others?

Vaccination is your best defense. The MMR vaccine is the most effective way to protect yourself and those around you from measles. Make sure you’ve received both recommended doses, and stay informed about outbreaks in your community, especially if you’re traveling or belong to a vulnerable group.

Visit these resources for more information

• About measles (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• How to protect your children during a measles outbreak (American Academy of Pediatrics)
• Measles cases are rising—here’s how to protect your family (Public Good News)
• How are routine vaccines tested for safety? (Public Good News)
• No, vitamin A does not prevent measles (Public Good News)

Measles has made it to Wisconsin. Here’s what to know about the virus. 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.