Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is facing immense criticism for stating that a “global measles outbreak” is being caused because “so many people went unvaccinated during the COVID pandemic.”
In his remarks, RFK Jr. said: “We’re having a global measles outbreak right now. It’s all over the world and the measles outbreak is occurring because so many people went unvaccinated during the COVID pandemic.”
He added that Dr. Anthony Fauci had predicted this scenario, noting: “He said we’re going to kill more people from measles than we save from COVID as we’re shutting down measles vaccination programs.” RFK Jr. further stated: “So now, six years later, we’re seeing that population. We have a global outbreak.”
Kennedy’s comments referenced a private journal entry written by Fauci on May 6, 2020, which was discussed in a congressional hearing in July 2025. In the journal entry, Fauci wrote: “Greater than one million children worldwide have missed their measles vaccination because of the shutdown. This is terrible and needs to be addressed, since on that basis alone there would be far, far more excess deaths from measles among children than coronavirus deaths among children.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 4,080 confirmed measles cases in the United States as of October 8, 2025—exceeding the total recorded throughout 2024 (285) and all of last year (2,289). Pennsylvania has emerged as one of the worst-affected states, with over 1,222 cases reported by its Department of Health as of October 14.
The state’s outbreak has prompted a dispute between Kennedy and Governor Josh Shapiro (D. Pa) over the number of measles-related deaths and federal response measures. Pennsylvania officials have documented five confirmed measles-associated deaths this year, with a sixth suspected death announced in October. The CDC has confirmed two measles-associated deaths nationwide as of 2026.
RFK Jr.’s remarks have been widely criticized for attributing the current global measles surge to unvaccinated populations during the pandemic.
