Gov. Shapiro Rebukes RFK Jr. on Measles Vaccine Misinfo After Reported Deaths

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro publicly rebuked Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday, accusing the longtime vaccine skeptic of delivering a “tirade” of conspiracies when the two spoke about an ongoing measles outbreak that has killed two people in the state. 

On Tuesday, Kennedy took to social media, writing that at a recent press conference about the outbreak, Gov. Shapiro had falsely claimed that there was no fetal tissue in the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine. Shapiro is, in fact, correct. The claim that the MMR vaccine contains cells belonging to aborted fetuses is a long standing, repeatedly debunked piece of vaccine misinformation. As explained by the American Academy of Pediatrics, “vaccines do not contain fetal cells. Some vaccines involve growing viruses in human cell cultures originally developed from two aborted fetuses in the 1960s. These cell lines are still going, so no new aborted fetuses are ever needed. Purification processes filter the vaccine during production, and no fetal tissue remains.” 

Kennedy nevertheless accused Shapiro of “gaslighting” the public, and of wrongfully attributing a decline in vaccination rates to his policies and influence. 

Shapiro responded en force, saying that when he received a call from Kennedy to discuss if there was any support the state needed from HHS, he told the secretary that “what would be most helpful is if he would join me in encouraging people to get vaccinated and stop spreading misinformation.” 

“He then launched into a tirade — talking about fetal tissue and blaming the previous Administration for this problem. He even told me it would be better if we went back to ‘natural measles… Secretary Kennedy’s actions to dismantle public health agencies and his language that undermines confidence in vetted medical guidance are contributing to these kinds of outbreaks.” 

Under Kennedy’s watch, measles cases have seen a record outbreak in the United States. The deadly disease — which in 2000 was declared eradicated in the country — is seeing a dramatic resurgence as vaccine hesitancy continues to proliferate. So far this year, 36 new outbreaks and 2,777 cases have been confirmed. 

Measles can be especially deadly to young children, and can lead to lifelong complications including suppressed immunity to other illnesses, hearing and vision loss, and other neurological conditions. 

Kennedy, who has supported the restructuring of the vaccine schedule and the separation of the MMR vaccine into three different shots administered at different appointments — a decision health experts say is both unnecessary and will reduce uptake by adding needless logistical hurdles —  has floundered the public response to the outbreaks, giving sometimes contradictory statements about vaccines to the public. 

In February of last year, he was criticised after downplaying that year’s record breaking measles resurgence. “There have been four measles outbreaks this year in this country — last year over 16. So it’s not unusual to have measles outbreaks every year,” Kennedy said during one of the earliest congressional hearings of his term. Since then, the number of outbreaks and cases has continued to rise.  This week, MS NOW reported on past statements Kennedy made while visiting an Amish country fair in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the same country where two individuals who tested positive for measles died in the past several days. Before running for office in 2024, Kennedy was one of the most prominent anti-vaccine activists not just in the United States, but around the world. 

Kennedy praised the religious community’s low vaccination rates during a speech at the fair, telling them that they had avoided pharmaceutical companies that sold “the remedies for the chronic diseases that are coming from the vaccines”

“What is the cure for measles? [The] cure for measles is chicken soup and vitamin A, and neither of those things can be patented,” he said. “To all of you people who are Amish in here today, they are coming for you because they cannot stand the fact that you are healthy.”

Cases continue to climb, and health officials are expecting more fatalities before the end of the year. Shapiro was unequivocal in the role Kennedy has played in creating the conditions for disease resurgences being observed now, and likely to worsen in the future. “The correlation is clear: Secretary Kennedy has stoked confusion amongst parents and others — and the result has been less protection from measles and more cases.

“So what I’d ask of every parent in Pennsylvania: take any information you get about vaccines and talk to a trusted health care provider about it before you make your decision,” Shapiro wrote. “The most important conversation that needs to take place now is one that should happen offline, in the real world, between parents, their trusted health care providers, and other medical experts.”