The Vaccine Intelligence Report: November 5-12

The Vaccine Intelligence Report—brought to you by Vaccinate Your Family—provides clear, fact-based updates on vaccine policy, research, and public health each week. This report is part of Viral Truths, a resource designed to cut through the noise, offering concise information to help navigate the evolving immunization landscape.

THIS WEEK AT A GLANCE

  • Canada and the entire Americas region lose measles elimination status following a year-long outbreak—the US could soon follow
  • Leading medical organizations file an updated lawsuit against Kennedy over his overhaul of the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel and its subsequent policy decisions
  • An anti-vaccine conference and MAHA summit feature key government officials and prominent advocates, highlighting the convening power of the movements
  • Measles cases continue to climb amid regional outbreaks, as the South reports a surge in whooping cough
  • Strained international relationships are hampering the CDC’s ability to track evolving flu strains and develop an effective vaccine for next season

OUTBREAK OUTLOOK

Measles Cases Continue to Climb Amid Regional Outbreaks; Southern States Report Surge in Whooping Cough

  • As of November 7, the US has reported 1,681 measles cases this year, with recent increases concentrated in a few key areas:
    • The Utah-Arizona outbreak has reached 158 cases, with 27 new cases in Mohave, Arizona, and 9 in Utah over the past two weeks.
    • In South Carolina, the ongoing outbreak has reached 35 cases as of November 7.
    • Nashville, Tennessee has reported its first measles case since 2005, as officials work to determine the source of infection.
    • Additionally, officials in Louisiana and Pennsylvania reported possible measles exposures at New Orleans and Philadelphia airports, respectively.
  • Meanwhile, Southern states are experiencing record numbers of pertussis cases—also known as whooping cough.
    • Texas has reported over 3,500 whooping cough cases this year, representing an 11-year high.
    • West Virginia has recorded 126 cases of whooping cough, marking its largest outbreak since 2010—and over 20% of cases have required hospitalization
    • In Kentucky’s Fayette County, 11 cases have been reported since October 3, all among children.
  • Notably, the youngest infants face the greatest risk of severe illness and hospitalization from whooping cough, and nearly 7 in 10 whooping cough-related deaths occur in babies under 2 months old.
    • Firsthand accounts from parents underscore the real-world impact of the illness: in October, two advocates who lost their infants to whooping cough met with members of Congress to share their stories and highlight the importance of vaccination. Read Katie and Kathy’s stories.

CDC Changes Bring Uncertainty for Next Year’s Flu Vaccine

  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is receiving far fewer flu-virus samples from other countries this year, which weakens the agency’s ability to track evolving strains and develop an effective vaccine for next season.
    • As of July, global flu specimen submissions to the CDC were down by 60% from 2024, with samples received from just 12 countries.
    • Without that data the agency has less visibility into which virus strains might circulate next season, raising concerns that updated vaccines could be less well-matched and less effective.
  • The decrease in global flu samples stems in part from strained US relations with the World Health Organization (WHO) and related funding gaps, which have reduced international shipping capabilities.
    • Historically, the WHO funding covered the cost of transporting flu samples to its collaborating centers. Following the US withdrawal from the WHO in January 2025, global funding fell by nearly $1 billion, decreasing the organization’s ability to support worldwide sample shipments.

NEED TO KNOW

Canada and the Americas Lose Measles Elimination Status Amid Year-Long Outbreak

  • Canada officially lost its measles elimination status on Monday (November 10), following a decision by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) last week.
    • The move ends nearly three decades of measles-free status and was widely expected given the country’s ongoing outbreak, which began in October 2024.
  • In 2025 alone, Canada has recorded over 5,100 measles cases, 93% of which occurred in individuals who were unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status.
  • Because Canada’s outbreak has persisted for over a year, the entire Americas region—the first and only region in the world to eliminate measles—has also lost its measles-free designation.
    • Under WHO criteria, a country must maintain zero endemic cases for 12 consecutive months after an outbreak to retain elimination status.
  • The US has not yet lost its designation, but officials predict it could follow suit, as an outbreak that began in January in West Texas continues to spread across the country.
  • PAHO says it will work with Canada to implement an action plan focused on boosting immunization coverage, reinforcing surveillance systems, and ensuring rapid outbreak response.

Leading Medical Groups Sue Kennedy Over Vaccine Panel Overhaul and Policy Changes

  • Several leading medical organizations—including the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), American College of Physicians (ACP), and American Public Health Association (APHA)—have filed an updated lawsuit against HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
  • The groups are seeking to dissolve and reconstitute Kennedy’s newly appointed Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and to invalidate its recent decisions, arguing that the committee’s current members lack the scientific and medical expertise required to make national vaccine recommendations.
  • The new filing, submitted November 5, expands on a lawsuit first filed in July that challenged Kennedy’s removal of all former ACIP members and his unilateral revisions to COVID-19 vaccine guidance without supporting evidence.
  • According to the plaintiffs, ACIP’s September meeting was marked by procedural failures and the spread of scientifically inaccurate claims, including:
    • Spreading false claims about “DNA contamination” in Covid vaccines
    • Skipping standard evidence reviews before voting on changes to recommendations
    • Giving outsized weight to rare side effects
    • Reversing support for thimerosal, despite longstanding safety data
    • Reconsidering the hepatitis B birth dose and the overall childhood vaccine schedule, despite decades of research and safety monitoring
  • The lawsuit comes amid growing backlash to Kennedy’s leadership at HHS.
    • On November 5, APHA and other groups led a large protest in Washington, D.C., calling for his resignation. Lawmakers and medical experts at the rally criticized Kennedy’s handling of vaccine policy and his understanding of infectious diseases.

Anti-Vaccine Conference and MAHA Summit Highlight the Movements’ Convening Power

  • Over the weekend, Children’s Health Defense (CHD)—the anti-vaccine advocacy group founded by Kennedy—held a conference attended by about 1,000 people, including a number of government officials and prominent anti-vaccine advocates.
  • Speakers included Republican Senators Rand Paul (KY), who questioned the childhood vaccine schedule and Ron Johnson (WI), who shared remarks remotely due to the government shutdown, and Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo, who is leading the effort to remove school vaccine requirements in his state.
    • Throughout the conference, remarks were highly critical of vaccines, focusing on topics such as vaccine injury, “the vaccine industrial complex,” mRNA technology, and medical freedom.
  • Some directed their remarks at Kennedy, such as Dr. Dave Weldon, the Secretary’s original pick for CDC Director. He called for the establishment of a new agency to study vaccines, which would be answerable to Kennedy and the Trump—telling reporters, “The reason I brought it up is, I want Bobby to do it.”
  • Andrew Wakefield, a British physician who was stripped of his medical license after his autism and vaccine research was found to be fraudulent, also attended and discussed the political opportunities that are being afforded to the anti-vaccine movement, noting that “Bobby has to be given the time to execute the plans that he has, and that needs to be taken into account.”
  • The conference came shortly before the MAHA summit, which took place in DC on Wednesday (November 12). The agenda featured Kennedy, as well as Vice President JD Vance, CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, and FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary.
    • Executives from companies such as Walmart, Google, Neuralink, and Regeneron also provided remarks, and according to the invitation, the event promised “exclusive networking” opportunities.

REALITY CHECK

These fact checks respond to several recent claims made by different groups and individuals.

CLAIM: Eliminating school and daycare vaccine mandates protects children’s freedom and wellbeing.

  • REALITY: Eliminating school vaccine mandates does not protect children’s freedom or wellbeing. It increases their risk of contracting dangerous—and even life-threatening–preventable diseases like measles, mumps and pertussis.
  • Evidence demonstrates that school vaccine requirements are one of the most effective tools for maintaining child health and preventing serious illness; they lead to increased vaccine uptake and in turn reduce outbreaks, leading to healthier children and communities.
  • Conversely, states that have relaxed or removed vaccine requirements have seen vaccination rates fall and exemption rates rise, leaving more children vulnerable to illness and outbreaks. For example:
    • Earlier this year, a measles outbreak in Gaines County, Texas, infected 22 children and 2 adults in a community where 14% of school-age children were unvaccinated, showing the direct link between low vaccination rates and disease spread.
    • Likewise, in New York City during the 2018-19 school year, 654 people—mostly children—contracted measles in a cluster concentrated among children with religious exemptions.
    • In Florida, lawmakers are planning to eliminate all school-age vaccine mandates; last year, prior to any changes to mandates, 5.1% of kindergarteners in the state had exemptions. The American Medical Association (AMA) warns this rollback “would undermine decades of public health progress and place children and communities at increased risk for diseases such as measles, mumps, polio, and chickenpox resulting in serious illness, disability, and even death.”
  • High vaccination rates protect not only children who are vaccinated but also those who cannot be vaccinated because they are too young or have medical conditions that preclude them from vaccination.
    • As such, claims that eliminating school-entry requirements increases freedom ignore the public health trade off: unvaccinated children put others at risk and undermine broader community health.

CLAIM: Childhood immunizations cause autism.

  • REALITY: There is no proven causal link between childhood vaccinations and autism. Several epidemiological studies and meta-analysis have demonstrated that this claim is false.
    • The original study that sparked this unsubstantial claim, published by Andrew Wakefield in 1998, was retracted for misconduct and fraud. Since then, dozens of rigorous studies from the CDC, National Academy of Medicine, and the WHO have confirmed that vaccines are safe, effective and do not cause autism.

CLAIM: The 72 vaccines mandated for children have not been safety tested.

  • REALITY: The claim that children receive 72 vaccines is misleading. Today, by age 18, children in the United States may be protected against up to 18 life-threatening or debilitating diseases.
    • Excluding seasonal vaccines like the flu shot, children receive approximately 30 vaccine doses – many in combined injections – before the age of 18.
  • Before approval, all vaccines recommended for children in the US undergo extensive review and rigorous safety testing, which includes laboratory research, animal studies, phased human clinical trials, and ongoing post-licensure monitoring.
  • Robust data show the benefits of vaccination far outweigh any risks, and serious adverse reactions to vaccination are very rare.
  • Due to important ethical considerations, some newer vaccines are compared to existing vaccines rather than saline placebos, but this process is still extensive and provides rigorous safety and efficacy data.
  • The current CDC-recommended childhood vaccine schedule has been carefully developed using decades of data to protect babies and children from illnesses when they are most vulnerable.

CLAIM: mRNA vaccines do not protect effectively against upper-respiratory infections like Covid.

  • REALITY: Evidence shows that while the protection provided by mRNA vaccines may not fully prevent an individual from contracting Covid, they are highly effective in helping to protect against severe illness and death.
    • A 2023 systemic review and meta-analysis of seven studies found that unvaccinated patients were nearly 2.5 times more likely to die from Covid.
    • Data show that adults hospitalized with Covid who had received 2 or 3 doses of a Covid vaccine were 90-94% less likely to need a ventilator or die while in the hospital, and a 2022 study found that hospitalization rates were up to 17 times higher among unvaccinated individuals compared to those who had been vaccinated.
    • Additional studies showed that in the US, Covid vaccines prevented roughly 1.6 million hospitalization and 235,000 deaths among adults, between 2020 and 2021.
    • Most recently, according to CDC data, in just the 7-month period from October 2023 and April 2024, Covid vaccines averted an estimated 68,000 hospitalizations.

WHAT TO WATCH

Federal Register Notice Posted for December ACIP Meeting

  • Yesterday (November 12), a meeting announcement for the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) on December 4-5 was formally posted to the Federal Register.
  • The agenda is set to include discussions on vaccine safety, the childhood and adolescent immunization schedule, and hepatitis B vaccines.
  • At the September ACIP meeting, the committee discussed postponing the universal birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine—moving it from the first 24 hours of life to at least one month.
    • They ultimately voted to delay a scheduled vote on changes to existing recommendations, which may now happen in December.
    • Since the CDC recommended universal newborn vaccination in 1991, childhood and adolescent hepatitis B infections have dropped by approximately 95%.

FDA Names Rick Pazdur to Lead Drug Review Division Following Tidmarsh Resignation

  • The FDA announced yesterday (November 12) its appointment of Rick Pazdur—longtime head of the Oncology Center of Excellence—to lead the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER).
  • Pazdur succeeds former director George Tidmarsh, who recently resigned amid controversy, after less than 4 months in the position.

Vaccinate Your Family is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to protecting people of all ages from vaccine-preventable diseases. To learn more, visit us at: vaccinateyourfamily.org

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