CDC Chief Defends $100 Million Measles Response as U.S. Tops 5,000 Cases

1 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Nov 13

Erica Schwartz said the CDC has sent more than $100 million to states, plus field teams, lab sequencing and thousands of vaccine doses, as the U.S. battles its worst measles year since 1991.
More than 5,000 measles cases and eight deaths have been reported in 2026, putting the country’s measles-elimination status at risk ahead of an expected Pan American Health Organization decision early next week.
At the Milken Institute summit, Schwartz also said she is willing to challenge Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., while describing him as decisive after a cross-agency dispute over the 340B drug-discount program.
Her remarks came as Kennedy faces separate scrutiny over his 2019 Samoa trip, which Democratic senators say may have involved anti-vaccine advocacy before an outbreak that killed 83 people.