Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has drawn widespread criticism for asserting that a “global measles outbreak” is being caused because “so many people went unvaccinated during the COVID pandemic.”

In his remarks, RFK Jr. stated: “We’re having a global measles outbreak right now. It’s all over the world and the measles outbreak is occurring because so many people went unvaccinated during the COVID pandemic.” He added that Dr. Anthony Fauci had predicted this outcome, saying: “We’re going to kill more people from measles than we save from COVID as we’re shutting down measles vaccination programs,” and that six years later, the United States is seeing a global outbreak.

Kennedy’s comments referenced a private journal entry written by Dr. Fauci on May 6, 2020, which was discussed during a congressional hearing in July this year. In that entry, Fauci wrote: “Greater than one million children worldwide have missed their measles vaccination because of the shutdown,” and noted that “this would lead to far, far more excess deaths from measles among children than coronavirus deaths.”

The United States is experiencing its worst measles resurgence in decades, with cases already far exceeding the total recorded throughout 2025. As of October 8, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 4,080 confirmed cases across the country — compared with 2,289 for the whole of last year and 285 in 2024.

Pennsylvania has emerged as one of the worst-affected states and a major focus of the outbreak, with more than 1,222 cases reported by the Pennsylvania Department of Health as of October 14. The state’s outbreak has prompted a dispute between Kennedy and Governor Josh Shapiro (D. Pa) over the number of measles-associated deaths and the federal response.

Pennsylvania officials have reported five measles-associated deaths this year, with a sixth suspected death announced in October. The CDC has confirmed two measles-associated deaths nationwide for 2026, with additional cases under review.