Defend Vaccine Science and Stop Public Health Misinformation

I urge Congress to defend evidence-based vaccine policy and protect our nation’s public-health agencies from misinformation and political interference. The United States is now experiencing thousands of measles cases in 2026. As of September 17, the CDC reported 3,471 confirmed cases nationwide. Pennsylvania alone has reported 767 cases across 38 counties and four measles-associated deaths. Pennsylvania health officials report that all four individuals who died were unvaccinated. This should not be happening. The science surrounding the MMR vaccine is not uncertain. Two doses are approximately 97% effective at preventing measles, and vaccination remains the best protection against this highly contagious disease. In Pennsylvania’s outbreak, only four of 767 reported cases have occurred in appropriately vaccinated individuals. Yet Americans continue to hear vaccine misinformation and rhetoric that casts doubt on decades of scientific evidence. When that messaging comes from people entrusted with leading our federal health agencies, the consequences extend far beyond political debate. It can undermine confidence in vaccination, weaken disease prevention, and leave infants, immunocompromised people, and others who depend on community protection increasingly vulnerable. Congress must insist that federal health policy and communication: accurately reflect the established scientific evidence supporting vaccination; clearly correct vaccine misinformation rather than amplify it; preserve transparent reporting of vaccine-preventable disease, hospitalization, and death; and protect CDC scientists and other public-health professionals from political interference in scientific work. Vaccines save lives. Measles is preventable. Americans need public-health leaders who communicate those facts clearly and consistently. Please use your oversight authority to protect the scientific integrity of our public-health institutions and ensure that federal vaccine policy is guided by evidence, not misinformation.