Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a new research initiative at the National Institutes of Health to study vaccine injuries, MedPage Today reported. The announcement comes as the U.S. saw 223 new measles cases in the past week, according to the Yale School of Public Health, and as New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a disaster emergency in upstate New York, where measles is spreading in undervaccinated areas.
In Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton has opened a probe into pediatricians' vaccination practices. The source presents these as separate developments; no causal link is suggested between the NIH initiative, the outbreak, and the Texas investigation.
The scope of the NIH study and the details of the Texas probe were not described in the source. The measles case locations beyond upstate New York were not specified.