Shapiro Clashes With RFK Jr. After Pennsylvania Measles Deaths

(Bloomberg) -- Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro blamed US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for sowing distrust in vaccines as the state confronts a widening measles outbreak that has killed two people and infected hundreds of others.Shapiro said Kennedy’s rhetoric and efforts to reshape federal public health policy had contributed to confusion about vaccines at a time when immunization rates are falling. The governor said Kennedy called him to offer federal assistance, which he declined.“

There’s real life consequences to spreading misinformation,” Shapiro said at a news conference on Tuesday.Kennedy disputed Shapiro’s claims that he had disseminated misleading information about vaccines in a social-media post, saying the Trump administration was “working to restore public trust.” The Pennsylvania Department of Health said this week that two unvaccinated people had died of measles in Lancaster County amid an outbreak that has infected more than 400 people, including 94 new cases in the past seven days.

The deaths were the first related to measles in Pennsylvania in more than 35 years, and first US deaths linked to the disease this year.Vaccination rates in Pennsylvania have slipped below levels that public health experts say are needed to reliably prevent outbreaks. About 92.7% of kindergartners in the state received the required two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine during the 2025-26 school year, short of the threshold associated with community immunity.

In Lancaster County, the kindergartner rate was about 86%. Shapiro, who is seen as a potential contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028, escalated his criticism of Kennedy in a social-media post on Wednesday, accusing him of going down “a rabbit hole of conspiracy theories and false claims” during their phone call.“ 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,” Shapiro wrote.Kennedy rejected the suggestion that he was responsible for Pennsylvania’s declining vaccination rate, arguing that much of the drop predated his tenure and that distrust stemming from government actions during the Covid-19 pandemic had damaged confidence in vaccines.“

It’s unfortunately true that the government lockdowns, deceptions, manipulation, and overreach during Covid severely damaged public faith in the vaccine program,” Kennedy wrote. “Governor Shapiro’s press conference was an example of the same species of gaslighting.” A spokesperson for the US Department of Health and Human Services didn’t respond to a request for comment.Measles is a highly infectious respiratory disease that causes flu-like symptoms and red splotches on the body.

Severe cases can lead to pneumonia or death, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Between one and three people out of 1,000 die from an infection.This year, the US has been grappling with a nationwide outbreak of the disease that has infected 2,777 people across 45 states, a level not seen in more than three decades, according to the CDC.US vaccine policy has been upended by Kennedy and President Donald Trump.

Earlier this month, Trump signed an executive order asking for the combined vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella to be split into three separate shots. Health experts say there is no benefit to splitting up the shot, and that it could lead to more people skipping it.During a 2025 outbreak in Texas, Kennedy touted unproven remedies including vitamin A and cod liver oil to treat a measles infection. Two unvaccinated children died of measles last year, the first US deaths from the disease in a decade.Kennedy wrote in his post Tuesday that the rubella component of the MMR shot contained aborted fetal cells, a common anti-vaccine talking point.

Some people who reject inoculations use the claim to obtain religious exemptions from getting vaccinated.Some vaccines developed in the 1960s used human cell cultures from two aborted fetuses, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. A purification process filtered the shots in production and no fetal tissue remains in the final product.“ At a time when the global public health goal is to reduce measles deaths, it is unacceptable that federal public health leaders have failed to meet this moment with the urgency, visibility, and leadership it requires,” said James Campbell, chair of the AAP’s committee on infectious diseases.While no vaccine is perfect, the MMR shot is one of the most effective on the market.

The vaccine is 97% effective after two doses. Pennsylvania’s health department said it has administered 3,100 MMR vaccines since the outbreak began in late April, and 4,600 total in 2026.--With assistance from Rachel Cohrs Zhang.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com©2026 Bloomberg L.P.