On February 9, 2026. leading U.S. health official Dr. Mehmet Oz urged people to get inoculated against the measles as outbreaks across several states mount and the U.S. is at risk of losing its measles elimination status. Despite misinformation creating suspicion about the safety and importance of vaccines from his own agency, Oz cited vaccines as “a solution for our problem.”
He also said Medicare and Medicaid will continue to cover the measles vaccine as part of the insurance programs.
An outbreak in South Carolina in the hundreds has surpassed the recorded case count in Texas’ 2025 outbreak, and there is also one on the Utah-Arizona border. Multiple other states have had confirmed cases this year. The outbreaks have mostly impacted children and have come as infectious disease experts warn that rising public distrust of vaccines generally may be contributing to the spread of a disease once declared eradicated by public health officials.
For more from ABC News, click here.