Dem
47
GOP
53
The measles epidemic that started in Texas is now in 22 states, with 483 cases reported and undoubtedly many more not reported. Measles can be deadly. A second child has now died from it. So what has the Trump administration done? It clawed back $12 billion intended for vaccine clinics. The money was originally appropriated during the COVID-19 pandemic but the CDC issued a memo stating that states can use the money for other vaccinations as well. It could have been used to provide measles vaccinations, for example.
A group of 23 states has sued the administration to allow them to keep the money and use it for measles and other vaccinations, but the official response was that doing so would be unnecessary and wasteful.
Adriane Casalotti, spokesperson for National Association of County and City Health Officials, said: "This was the CDC who wrote the grants and it was approved by the federal government. We have not seen this in public health—where money already obligated and out the door was clawed back."
In Dallas, for example, officials have had to cancel plans for 50 clinics. Philip Huang, director of the Dallas County Heath and Human Services said: "It's very disruptive, and I think it is intentional. This isn't just affecting blue states or red states or red communities. This is affecting everyone." In Washington state, 104 clinics have been canceled. Many other states are also affected.
It is not clear if the clawback is the work product of DOGEy Elon Musk or Secretary of HHS Robert Kennedy Jr. They have different goals. Musk just wants to wreck the federal government so it can't come after oligarchs like him. Kennedy doesn't believe in vaccines. He wants to review the measles vaccine to see if it causes autism, despite there not being a shred of scientific evidence that it does. The entire vaccines/autism "controversy" is "based" on a single 1998 paper by Andrew Wakefield published in a British medical journal. After investigating the paper carefully, the journal later retracted it as dishonest and fraudulent. A further investigation by the British Medical Council resulted in Wakefield having his medical license revoked due to the fraud, prohibiting him from practicing medicine in the U.K. Nevertheless, the damage had been done. (V)