A Measles Outbreak At An Atlanta Daycare

There are now eight confirmed cases of measles at a Metro Atlanta daycare, and it didn’t have to be this way.

Our babies count on us to protect them. We are failing them.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we heard the term “herd immunity” a lot, although there was plenty of misunderstanding about what it actually means. The concept is simple: when enough people in a community are immune to a disease, it becomes much harder for that disease to spread. That helps protect the people who cannot yet be vaccinated or who cannot develop adequate immunity.

For measles, one of the most contagious diseases in the world, that threshold is around 95%.

That matters because some of the people who depend most on community immunity are babies.

Children generally receive their first MMR vaccine between 12 and 15 months old and their second dose between ages 4 and 6. That means a daycare can bring together, in one place, children who are too young to have received their first dose and others who have not yet received their second.

And measles is extraordinarily easy to spread. A person can transmit it before the characteristic rash appears. The virus spreads through the air and can linger there, remaining infectious in a room for up to two hours after an infected person leaves. By the time everyone realizes measles has entered a daycare, children may have already been exposed.

This is exactly why herd immunity matters.

Unfortunately, one of the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic was an assault on public confidence in vaccines. Distrust of the COVID vaccine spilled over into distrust of vaccines that have safely protected children for generations. The thoroughly debunked claim linking vaccines to autism was given new life. And instead of using the enormous power of our federal public health institutions to rebuild trust in science and medicine, national leaders like RFK Jr. have amplified vaccine skepticism.

The consequences of that distrust aren’t theoretical anymore.

They look like eight cases of measles connected to one Metro Atlanta daycare.

They look like parents worrying about whether their babies were exposed to a disease that we have had the tools to prevent for decades.

This is why community immunity matters.

This is why strong public health institutions matter.

This is why scientific expertise in government matters.

And this is why elections matter.

We need leaders in Congress who will protect our public health infrastructure, defend evidence-based medicine, and make decisions based on science rather than conspiracy.

Our babies are counting on us.

This is why I’m running for Congress.