U.S. Rep. Kim Schrier discusses vaccine hesitation consequences as King County records first measles case

King County has recorded Washington state's first measles case of 2025. Measles is extremely contagious for those who aren't vaccinated.

U.S. Rep. Kim Schrier is a pediatrician when she's not a politician. She is worried that more parents will choose not to vaccinate their children now that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is in charge of the Health and Human Services Department. Kennedy has long spread discredited theories about vaccines, stoking fears about them. Recently, he said the measles outbreak in Texas and New Mexico was "not unusual."

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"Well, first of all, they shouldn't be common," Rep. Schrier told KUOW, noting that measles is one of the most contagious diseases in existence, which is preventable through vaccination.

"It is so contagious, it is such a danger, and it is such a miserable disease, why would you even risk this when you have such a safe and effective vaccine?" she said.

Rep. Schrier represents Washington's 8th Congressional District, where most residents live in King County.

The new case of measles in King County was confirmed in an infant on Feb. 26. The infant was traveling abroad where it likely contracted the virus. The baby then traveled around the Seattle and Bellevue area where health officials are concerned people were exposed. Those who are vaccinated need not worry, however, as the vaccine is 97% effective, according to Public Health – Seattle & King County.

The county health department also points out that a population needs roughly 95% vaccinated against measles to reach herd immunity. Currently, about 87% of 2-year-olds in the county have received their MMR vaccine. About 72% of 4-6-year-olds have received two doses of the vaccine.

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Concern over Kennedy's role as the nation's top health official, in light of news about measles outbreaks, led Schrier to call on the Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee, urging them to hold Kennedy accountable for outbreaks of diseases that are preventable with vaccines. She was met with laughter.

"My colleagues are laughing, and I just want to be really clear, again, as a pediatrician, we should not have to wait for kids to get sick, and for kids to die, because you think this is some sort of joke," Schrier said on the committee floor.

Schrier told KUOW that it's not just measles that is preventable through vaccination. She also pointed out pertussis (whooping cough), polio, and meningitis. Schrier also notes that a federal panel meeting to discuss next year's flu vaccines was canceled.

"Canceling this meeting puts us all at risk," she said. "I don't know how else to figure out how to protect our country from the flu if we don't have this meeting with experts to figure out how to proceed. And let me say to anybody out there who says, 'Hold on a second, the flu vaccine is not 100% effective.' Well, no. But you know what? If you get vaccinated, and you build up your immunity in advance of getting the flu, it will mean your case will be milder. And that is a win unto itself."

Schrier empathizes with Americans who are hesitant about vaccines. She argues that modern generations have lived without the threat of serious illness for so long, they haven't seen the effects of serious diseases like measles or polio, or seen infants die from preventable illnesses.

"So the risk/benefit calculation for parents today is distorted because they can only think of the possible risk of getting a vaccine," she said. "Here's the really sad thing. Measles was considered eradicated in the United States in the year 2000. The spread of misinformation since then has resulted in outbreaks like this. All of them unnecessary. And we should never have to wait for children to get sick, and even die, in order to understand hat vaccines were one of the greatest developments in health care in the last century. They are still necessary. They are safe, and they are effective."

There were three measles cases in King County in 2024, according to the county's health department.

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