Cases of measles are rising across the country and seem to be striking counties at random, but experts say there is one thing the public health system can do to turn the tide, and that’s to stem the post-pandemic vaccine lag and get parents to vaccinate their kids.
General vaccination rates, including measles vaccination, declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, as people had less access to health care and kids were unable to access in-school vaccine clinics.
That, combined with a new wave of vaccine skepticism and anti-vaccine sentiment has contributed to a wave of unvaccinated kids falling sick with the once-eradicated virus.
