4th measles case confirmed in NY. Gov. Hochul asks for help promoting vaccination

Gov. Kathy Hochul confirmed Wednesday that a fourth person has been diagnosed with the measles in New York this year, and called on clergy, activists and other “pillars of our communities” to help disseminate accurate information about the effectiveness of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.

“Help us encourage everyday New Yorkers, who want only the best for their families, to get the vaccination, because there are numbers that are still deeply troubling,” Hochul said.

City and state data shows only about 81% of New York 2-year-olds have gotten their first dose of the MMR vaccine, even though the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that children get it between 12 and 15 months. Hochul noted that in the vaccination rate is much lower in some counties. A rate of 95% is needed for herd immunity, according to the state health department.

Hochul said the four New York cases reported this year, including three in New York City and one in Suffolk County, are not related to one another and are “not inherently a cause for concern.” New York state had 14 cases of the measles last year.

But Hochul said she wants to “sound the alarm” early, given the state’s current vaccination rate among young children and ongoing measles outbreaks in parts of the United States and Canada.

The latest measles case was reported in a New York City adult who recently returned from traveling abroad, said Chantal Gomez, a spokesperson for the city health department. Gomez said people who may have been exposed to that person are being notified. Officials gave different accounts as to whether the person was vaccinated.

The three previously reported cases were in children who were younger than the recommended age to receive the first dose of the vaccine, according to the local health departments for New York City and Suffolk County.

With ongoing outbreaks in Texas and New Mexico, more than 300 cases have been reported in the United States so far this year, more than the number reported in all of 2024, according to the CDC. But Hochul said she’s particularly concerned about an outbreak in Ontario, Canada, since many upstate residents travel there frequently.

Hochul lamented that “in the year 2025, we’re still debating whether vaccines are safe.” She took the opportunity to call out Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was recently appointed secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as the “nation’s leading vaccine skeptic.”

In a recent op-ed for Fox News, Kennedy acknowledged that vaccines “not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity.” But he also said the “decision to vaccinate is a personal one” and said “good nutrition” is “a best defense against most chronic and infectious illnesses.”

These comments, along with the suggestion that supplements like cod liver oil can be used to treat the measles, have raised concerns among public health experts, who say the focus should be on widespread vaccination.