Robert F Kennedy Jr, the US health secretary, has urged American parents to vaccinate their children against measles. This call comes as the number of measles infections in the US has surged to levels not seen in 35 years.
Speaking on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday, Mr Kennedy stated, "Parents should get their children vaccinated for measles. A measles vaccine is effective, it stops measles in about 97% of the cases. People should get vaccinated." He also recommended the combined measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine.
The US has officially recorded 2,371 confirmed measles infections so far this year, surpassing the 2025 total of 2,289. The last time a greater number of measles cases were recorded in a single year was in 1991.
Mr Kennedy has previously been a prominent sceptic of vaccinations, including the MMR shot, and has amplified misinformation about them. When asked if he took responsibility for the current measles surge, he replied, "Absolutely not," attributing outbreaks to religious communities and global health conditions.