Almost 60% of Pennsylvania measles cases tied to Lancaster County: dashboard<\/a><\/p>\nPA doctor and lawmaker pushes back on federal recommendations <\/p>\n
State Rep. Arvind Venkat is the only physician currently serving in the Pennsylvania General Assembly. He is also a practicing emergency physician.<\/p>\n
Venkat (D-Allegheny) strongly criticized the president’s order, calling it “extraordinarily dangerous. ” <\/p>\n
“The executive order has no basis in science and frankly, no basis in reality,\u201d Venkat said.<\/p>\n
\u201cVaccines are among the most studied and safest public health interventions we’ve had since the 1970s,\u201d Venkat said. \u201cAnd I’m an emergency physician. I care for patients to this day. There are whole classes of diseases that I have never seen in patients because of vaccines.\u201d<\/p>\n
Venkat added that he believes the current measles outbreak in PA is directly linked to the rhetoric from DC. He argued that public confidence in vaccines has been weakened by political leaders, including Trump.<\/p>\n
He also pushed back on the idea that giving children fewer vaccines or spacing them farther apart automatically makes them safer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere’s no evidence for that,\u201d Venkat said.<\/p>\n
WHP<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don’t have to take my word for it. You could just look around the world and the real world experience we have where we do not break up the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine because it’s been proven to be safe and effective,\u201d Venkat said.<\/p>\n
He also said separating the vaccine would create additional hurdles for families.<\/p>\n
\u201cBreaking it up would cost more money,\u201d Venkat said. \u201cYou know, I have three kids. They’re young adults now, but when they were growing up, the idea that I’d have to take them to the pediatrician more often than I already did is something that makes no sense whatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Venkat said parents should rely on medical professionals rather than political rhetoric when making decisions about their children’s health.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I would tell people is talk with your health professional, talk with your physician, talk with your nurse, talk with those who are actually expert in this area,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon’t get caught up in rhetoric that has no basis in reality, and that is frankly endangering our communities and Commonwealth,\u201d Venkat said.<\/p>\n
On the MMR change<\/p>\n
Trump’s executive order calls for the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to be administered as three separate shots rather than one combination vaccine.<\/p>\n
Venkat said that change would not happen quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cBased on the safety protocols we have for putting new vaccines into the market, it would take at least a decade,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd that’s on the assumption that anybody thinks this is a good idea.\u201d<\/p>\n
Venkat said there is no evidence showing that the current MMR combination vaccine is causing harm.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there were evidence that the MMR vaccine was causing harm, then of course we should break it up,\u201d he said. \u201cBut there’s no evidence of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also warned that delaying other vaccines could have consequences.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere’s plenty of evidence to say that breaking it up or delaying the hepatitis B vaccine or not recommending COVID and flu vaccinations have real adverse consequences for our fellow Pennsylvanians,\u201d Venkat said.<\/p>\n
Measles outbreak adds urgency<\/p>\n
The federal vaccine changes come as Pennsylvania is dealing with a resurgence of measles.<\/a><\/p>\nThe Department of Health launched a measles dashboard in July to track cases across the Commonwealth and said the Lancaster County outbreak had prompted an increase in vaccination efforts. <\/p>\n
State health center staff had administered more than three times as many measles vaccinations in Lancaster County during 2026 as they did during all of 2025.<\/p>\n
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