As Measles Makes Inroads in Texas, Vaccine Clinics Close

As the Department of Health and Human Services undergoes mass layoffs, Texas is feeling its own health-related consequences as a result of billions of dollars in federal funding cuts imposed by the Trump administration. One of those consequences: the shuttering of free measles vaccine clinics in one major county, right as the state is dealing with a continuing measles outbreak. Per NBC News, dozens of these clinics, which administer free MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccines, have been forced to close their doors in Dallas County, and more than 20 epidemiologists, lab workers, and other staffers tasked with fighting the outbreak have been let go.

"I just had to tell our commissioners this morning that we've had to cancel over 50 different clinics in our community" over the course of the next year, Dr. Philip Huang, director of the Dallas County Health and Human Services Department, tells NBC Dallas-Fort Worth. "We had contacted a lot of schools that had lower vaccination rates," he says. "They had contacted us to set up clinics to go to those schools. Well, that's some of what we're having to cancel."

Some $11.4 billion that was slashed nationally was originally earmarked for community health centers during the pandemic—money those centers have since put toward non-COVID-related public health initiatives—but last week, the White House announced it would "no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a nonexistent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago."

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ABC News reports that, as of Tuesday, Texas had logged nearly 422 measles cases, with 42 hospitalizations; one child has died. The Texas Department of State Health Services says that most of the cases have emerged in people who aren't vaccinated, or whose vaccination status isn't clear. The majority of the cases involve children. According to the CDC's Friday update, there are nearly 500 measles cases that have been reported nationally across at least 19 states, though ABC notes this is likely an undercount due to reporting delays. More here on the logistical challenges of getting a vaccine in Texas. (More measles stories.)