Pennsylvania Midwife Backs Measles Shots After 4 Deaths, Seeks Authority to Give Vaccine
Updated
Updated · The Times Leader · Sep 19
Pennsylvania Midwife Backs Measles Shots After 4 Deaths, Seeks Authority to Give Vaccine
1 articles · Updated · The Times Leader · Sep 19
Summary
Roberta Devers, a 63-year-old traditional midwife in Lancaster County, now says everyone eligible should get vaccinated and wants permission to offer MMR shots to Amish patients.
Four measles-related deaths — two Amish infants, an 18-year-old and a 40-year-old woman — have turned the outbreak into Pennsylvania’s deadliest in more than 30 years, with 731 cases reported across 38 counties.
State law blocks unregulated traditional midwives from administering vaccines, and the health department says only a legislative change could expand that authority beyond licensed providers.
Devers argues her role in home births gives her unusual influence in Amish communities, where access to modern medicine is limited and families increasingly ask her about exposure and vaccination.
Pennsylvania has opened 124 pop-up clinics that delivered more than 4,100 MMR doses, as officials confront falling childhood vaccination rates and school coverage below the 95% herd-immunity threshold.