Activists urge CPS to offer measles shots at schools
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Activists, including a former Chicago health commissioner, are calling on Chicago Public Schools to administer vaccinations at schools, after the state reported this week its first measles case of 2025.
The big picture: As of last week, some 800 confirmed cases were reported across 25 states, according to the CDC.
- There have been two confirmed deaths from measles, while the death of a third person who tested positive for measles is under investigation, according to the CDC.
- All three were not vaccinated, according to state authorities. Two doses of the MMR vaccine are 97% effective against measles, the CDC says.
Driving the news: People's Response Network (PRN) is proposing that CPS make all required vaccines, including the MMR shots for measles, available to CPS students on site and administered under the supervision of a staff nurse.
What they're saying: "Measles is not the only thing we're talking about. What we're talking about here is that every racial, class and gender inequity in health and everything else became much worse during COVID," former Chicago Department of Public Health deputy commissioner Howard Ehrman said at a news conference Thursday.
- "It became much worse because for the first time vaccines bypassed the Chicago Department of Public Health and every other department of health in the United States to actually go, first and foremost, to pharmacies."
- "This is an example of massive privatization of public health that's taken place over the last 50 years in our country and has created major, major barriers for working class parents, particularly of color, to be able to get their kids vaccinated."
Zoom in: PRN is calling on CPS to put a nurse in every school, something outlined in the CTU tentative agreement, and ensure schools have access to the state's online record of which required vaccines each student has received.
- The group also wants the district to organize vaccine events at schools during hours that are accessible for working families.
By the numbers: About 96% of public school students in Illinois are protected against measles, according to IDPH.
- About 93% of students in Chicago are protected.
- For measles, protection has trended down with nearly 98% of students protected a decade ago.
- Illinois reported 67 cases of measles in 2024, but no measles-related deaths.
Zoom out: Americans are flooded with misinformation about all vaccines, according to a KFF poll of more than 1,000 adults.
- Around 6 in 10 adults say they have heard of or read about the false link between autism and the MMR vaccine.
- One in three reported having read or heard the false claim that the measles vaccines are more dangerous than being infected with measles itself — a share that's climbed by 15 percentage points in the past year.
Between the lines: HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. is a vocal vaccine skeptic, but Kennedy said recently that the MMR vaccine is "the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles."
What's next: IDPH is identifying all potential exposure locations, including any additional risks at the southern Illinois clinic where the case was reported.