‘These are needless deaths’: Vaccine misinformation will lead to more deaths from measles outbreak, ousted US scientist tells Sky News
America’s ousted vaccine chief has told Sky News there will be more deaths from a growing measles outbreak unless the US government shifts its rhetoric on vaccination.
“Ultimately, they’re not gonna be able to run from reality,” said Dr Peter Marks, former head of vaccines at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Dr Marks also echoed concerns among public health experts that the federal administration’s stance on vaccinations and cuts to global health initiatives could make the world, including America, more vulnerable to other preventable diseases.
There have been 935 confirmed cases of measles in the US, with outbreaks in six states and cases reported in 23 others.
There are also related outbreaks in Mexico and Canada, which share links to the Mennonite religious community in which the US outbreak took hold.
There have been outbreaks in Mexico and Canada, which share links to the Mennonite religious community. Pic: AP
Dr Marks was forced to resign as the director of the FDA’s Centre for Biologics Evaluation and Research in March after clashing with incoming US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr over his stance on vaccines and scientific evidence.
RFK Jr has come under intense criticism from public health experts after continuing, despite the outbreak, to endorse alternative and unproven ways to prevent and treat measles.
Secretary Kennedy has since publicly endorsed the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine as the safest and most effective way of preventing measles.
But at the same time, he has continued to criticise the MMR jab.
RFK Jr has endorsed alternative and unproven ways to prevent and treat measles. Pic: AP
MMR – one of the safest and most well-studied vaccines in history – is credited with virtually eliminating measles in the US and much of the developed world in the early 21st century.
Uptake of the vaccine is now falling.
On Friday, as the latest data confirmed measles cases continued to rise, Secretary Kennedy instructed the federal agencies to review the use of alternative drugs in combination with vitamins for the treatment of measles and other diseases.
In an interview the same day, while maintaining he is not opposed to vaccination, Secretary Kennedy repeated erroneous claims that the MMR jab contains “aborted foetus debris and DNA particles”.
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From March: Why are measles cases so high?
‘These are needless deaths’
Three people have died in the US outbreak so far, two of them children. None had been vaccinated against measles.
“It’s fully appropriate to say that these are needless deaths,” said Dr Marks. “And we’re going to be having more of those if this measles outbreak continues to spread.”
He also believes public health experts need to get better at preventing “misleading information and lies” around vaccination to take hold.
“We have yet to find the kind of active, unified voice that we need to say: ‘hey guys, stop this stuff’,” said Marks.
“These people over there, they’re entitled to their opinion, but they don’t have to harm your kids by broadcasting it.”
He is careful not to directly criticise the man who forced him from his position at the FDA, urging him, instead, to listen to reason.
“To consider alternative viewpoints from those who have a lot of knowledge and experience,” said Marks.
File pic: Reuters
‘A sad day for America’s children’
Others are less cautious about criticising RFK Jr: Paul Offit, a vaccinologist at the University of Pennsylvania, said: “When he was confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services, I think that was a sad day for America’s children.
“He has for 20 years been a virulent anti-vaccine activist, science denialist and conspiracy theorist.”
Prof Offit is also concerned about his impact on the rest of the world.
“We export our fears and I think with social media now, it’s much easier to amplify those fears.”
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Uptake of the MMR jab is falling in the UK and parts of the EU. Cases of measles have increased there too but, with the exception of Romania, to a lesser extent than in the US.
An increase in measles, one of the most infectious diseases known to science, is often “an early warning sign” of falling vaccination rates more widely, according to the head of the UK’s vaccine advisory committee, Prof Andrew Pollard.
“Just as we’ve seen whooping cough outbreaks here in the UK over the last couple of years,” said Pollard.
“It’s not just MMR where the [vaccination] rates are lower, it’s also other vaccines where we’re not getting such high coverage.”
File pic: Reuters
According to the World Health Organisation, 138 countries have reported measles cases with 61 experiencing large outbreaks. The highest number globally since 2019.
The situation could now get worse after the Trump administration froze the US annual contribution to the WHO, which stood at $960bn last year and has threatened to cut $300m for the global vaccine alliance (GAVI).
“That money not coming through for our next strategic cycle would mean that we will be unable to vaccinate about 75 million children,” said Sania Nishtar, CEO of GAVI.
According to GAVI, that could lead to well over a million additional child deaths over the next five years from diseases like Malaria, meningitis and yellow fever.
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GAVI is urging the US administration to reconsider a funding cut, in part because US businesses manufacture many of the vaccines it supplies, but also because it keeps the US safe.
“We are the only agency in the world that maintains the stockpiles of vaccines,” said Nishtar.
“If there’s an Ebola outbreak anywhere in the world, we would be the ones mobilising the stockpiles to ensure that the outbreak is contained. There and then, preventing it from reaching American shores.”
Dr Marks predicts that the administration will be forced to shift its stance if the outbreak continues to grow and vaccine-hesitant Americans begin to witness the typically unseen impact vaccinations have.
He said: “As the deaths start to crank up, public opinion will certainly change because they will see once again what happens when people around them are dying or getting very sick.”
Donald Trump could meet Vladimir Putin in person as early as next week to discuss a ceasefire in Ukraine, a White House official has said.
They said the meeting would be conditional on the Russian president meeting his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Sky News’s US partner network NBC News reported.
It came days before the White House’s deadline for Russia to reach a peace deal with Ukraine or face severe economic penalties, which could also target countries buying its oil.
Asked during a news conference at the White House if the talks would take place, Mr Trump said: “There’s a very good prospect that they will.”
He said it had not been determined where the talks would take place, but added: “We had some very good talks with President Putin today.”
However, he said: “I’ve been disappointed before with this one.”
Asked if Mr Putin made any kind of concession to lead to the development, Mr Trump did not give much away, but added: “We’ve been working on this a long time. There are thousands of young people dying, mostly soldiers, but also, you know, missiles being hit into Kyiv and other places.”
More tariffs ‘could happen’
Mr Trump also said he could announce further tariffs on China similar to the 25% he announced on India over its purchases of Russian oil.
“Could happen,” he said, after saying he expected to announce more secondary sanctions intended to pressure Russia into ending its war with Ukraine.
Earlier, he imposed an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods, on top of a previous 25% tariff, over its continued purchases of Russian oil.
India’s foreign ministry spokesperson said the additional tariffs were “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable”.
Vladimir Putin welcomes Steve Witkoff during a meeting in Moscow. Pic: Sputnik/Reuters
It came after Mr Putin held talks with Mr Trump‘s special envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow, with the meeting lasting around three hours.
In a post on Truth Social, Mr Trump said Mr Witkoff “had a highly productive meeting” with Mr Putin in which “great progress was made”.
He said he had updated America’s European allies, and they will work towards an end to the Russia-Ukraine war “in the days and weeks to come”.
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Correspondents in Washington and Moscow break down a busy day of diplomacy
‘The war must end’
Mr Zelenskyy later said he and Mr Trump spoke on the phone after the meeting. He said “European leaders also participated in the conversation” and “we discussed what was said in Moscow”.
He added: “Our common position with our partners is absolutely clear: The war must end. We all need lasting and reliable peace. Russia must end the war that it started.”
Mr Zelenskyy later said: “It seems that Russia is now more inclined to agree to a ceasefire.”
He added that the pressure on Moscow “is working”, without elaborating, and stressed it was important to make sure Russia does not “deceive us or the United States” when it comes to “the details” of a potential agreement.
America’s vaccine-sceptic health secretary has announced $500m (£375.8m) worth of cuts to their development in the country.
The US health department is cancelling contracts and pulling funding for jabs to fight viruses like COVID-19 and the flu, it was announced on Tuesday.
Robert F Kennedy Jr, known as RFK Jr, said 22 projects developing mRNA vaccines will be halted. It is the latest in a series of decisions to reduce US vaccine programmes.
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The health secretary has fired the panel that makes vaccine recommendations, reduced recommendations for COVID-19 shots, and refused to endorse vaccines despite a worsening measles outbreak.
RFK Jr claims the US will now prioritise “safer, broader vaccine strategies, like whole-virus vaccines and novel platforms that don’t collapse when viruses mutate”.
Responding to the announcement of cuts, Mike Osterholm, a University of Minnesota expert on infectious diseases and pandemic preparations, said: “I don’t think I’ve seen a more dangerous decision in public health in my 50 years in the business.”
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Is US politics fuelling a deadly measles outbreak?
Dr Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said RFK Jr’s move was short-sighted and that mRNA vaccines “certainly saved millions of lives”, including during the pandemic.
MRNA vaccines work by delivering a snippet of genetic code into the body that triggers an immune response, rather than introducing a real version of the virus.
According to the UK Health Security Agency, the “leading advantage of mRNA vaccines is that they can be designed and produced more quickly than traditional vaccines”.
Moderna, which was studying a combo mRNA shot that can tackle COVID and flu for the US health department, previously said it believed mRNA could speed up production of flu jabs compared with traditional vaccines.
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A COVID-19 vaccine during the pandemic. File pic: PA
Scientists are also exploring how mRNA could be used in cancer immunotherapies and in other illnesses.
At the White House earlier this year, billionaire tech entrepreneur Larry Ellison praised mRNA for its potential to treat cancer.
RFK Jr touts ‘effective’ alternative
The health department said the abandoned mRNA projects signal a “shift in vaccine development priorities.”
“Let me be absolutely clear, HHS supports safe, effective vaccines for every American who wants them,” Mr Kennedy said in a statement.
Later, he said work is underway on an alternative – a “universal vaccine” that mimics “natural immunity”.
“It could be effective – we believe it’s going to be effective – against not only coronaviruses, but also flu,” he said.
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