In The Politics of Autism, I analyze the myth that vaccines cause autism. This bogus idea can hurt people by allowing diseases to spread. Examples include measles, COVID, flu, and polio.
In another sign of growing vaccine hesitancy, a new report finds that the percentage of US toddlers vaccinated on time against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) has fallen since the pandemic.
The percentage of 2-year-olds given the MMR vaccine fell from 80% in 2021 to 77% in 2024, according to a study published today in JAMA Network Open. The new study included nearly 322,000 children with regular access to care.
The researchers found that the strongest predictor of missing the MMR shot by age 2 was late administration of the vaccines recommended for babies at 2 months and 4 months of age.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends giving children a first dose of MMR vaccine at 12 to 15 months of age and a second dose at 4 to 6 years. Research shows that at least 95% of children need to receive both doses on time to keep measles from spreading.
Reduced vaccination levels have helped fuel ongoing measles outbreaks across the United States that affected more than 2,000 people in 2025. Two Texas children died after contracting measles last year.
William Vaillancourt at The Daily Beast:
Measles may have spread at a Noah’s Ark-themed creationist museum in Kentucky earlier this week, the state’s health authority said.
Visitors and staff at Ark Encounter in Williamstown are being encouraged to be on the alert for symptoms of the highly contagious—and vaccine-preventable—disease through Jan. 19, the Kentucky Department of Public Health explained, following a potential exposure on Monday.
“An unvaccinated, out-of-state traveler stayed at the Holiday Inn & Suites in Dry Ridge from Dec. 28 to 30, 2025 and visited the Ark Encounter on Dec. 29, 2025,” the agency said in a Facebook post. It then noted that “vaccination is the best protection against measles,” and that young, unvaccinated children are particularly at risk of developing complications.
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Ark Encounter, which includes exhibits showing dinosaurs and humans living together, allows children 10 years old and under to enter for free. It reported 1 million visitors from mid-2017 to mid-2018, its second year of operation.
