Measles is highly contagious. If 10 unvaccinated people go near someone who has the virus, up to nine of them will catch it. The best protection against infection is the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, which has been publicly available in the United States for more than four decades. Consistent with previous outbreaks, 94 percent of people infected in Texas have been unvaccinated.
Measles — a preventable disease — is particularly dangerous for children and teens. Indeed, almost all the current cases in Texas have been children, including dozens of cases in children under age 4, for whom the disease is particularly dangerous. Eighteen people have been hospitalized. Now more than ever, state policymakers in Texas and beyond must take action to keep our kids safe and healthy.
The Texas outbreak comes at a time when our country is increasingly susceptible to infectious diseases, with public health protections and vaccination rates falling. In fact, measles infections alone grew from four reported outbreaks totaling 59 cases in 2023 to 16 outbreaks totaling 285 cases last year. Already, 2025 has seen more than 140 cases of measles across the nation.
School vaccine requirements are an especially effective prevention strategy against measles but right now those requirements are in jeopardy. Every state in America requires students to get vaccinated when they attend public school, but most states, including Texas, also allow parents to request nonmedical exemptions from those requirements based on religious or personal beliefs. Each year, more and more parents have used these exemptions to opt their kids out.
This decision comes at a great potential cost to children and communities, as students exempted from school vaccinations are 35 times more likely to contract measles than their vaccinated peers. Gaines County, home to 65 percent of the measles cases in the current Texas outbreak, has one of the highest rates of vaccine exemptions in the state. During the 2023-2024 school year, almost 14 percent of K-12 public schoolers were opted out of at least one vaccine requirement.
At the state level, lawmakers in states such as Louisiana are planning to cease the promotion of vaccinations altogether, meaning existing challenges with declining vaccination rates could become even more grim.
In the face of these setbacks, state lawmakers must reinforce strong school vaccine requirements with limited exemptions to keep individuals and communities safe from disease spread. Policymakers can also support and invest resources in state and local health departments to educate residents and provide clear communication about the decades of scientific research that have repeatedly shown vaccines to be safe and effective.
For example, lawmakers can highlight the fact that the lifetime risk of being struck by lightning is about four times greater than the risk of experiencing an allergic reaction to the MMR vaccine that prevents measles.
States should also expand and support their public health workforce to staff vaccine clinics for people who can’t easily access a doctor’s office or pharmacy, and amend their state Medicaid rules — as Arkansas has — to make it easier for a broader range of health-care providers to offer vaccines. Lawmakers in Texas can model neighboring New Mexico, which is currently tracking measles cases in response to the Texas outbreak, notifying people who may be exposed to the virus and offering free vaccine clinics to curb further spread.
Instead, unconscionably some state representatives in Texas are encouraging more vaccine exemptions, and attempting to vest politicians rather than health experts with decision-making authority about vaccine requirements.
State lawmakers have a critical opportunity to learn from the Texas situation and use the tools we know can keep Americans healthy while protecting our communities. They must rise to the occasion. Our children’s health — even lives — are at risk if they don’t.
Jill Rosenthal is the director of public health policy at the Center for American Progress.
Governing’s opinion columns reflect the views of their authors and not necessarily those of Governing’s editors or management.
