by Jamil Ragland CTNewsJunkie
HARTFORD, CT – Vaccines are safe, effective, and save lives. That was the message nearly a dozen officials and state lawmakers delivered to the public Tuesday morning in Hartford as health officials tracked measles outbreaks around the country.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines an outbreak as three or more related cases of the measles virus, which was once all but eradicated in the US. As of Tuesday, the Texas Department of Public Health reported 327 people infected with measles so far, including one fatality and 40 hospitalizations. Nationwide, 378 cases were confirmed as of Friday in Texas and 17 other states, including Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York City, New York State, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, and Washington.
In comparison, the CDC said 16 outbreaks were reported in 2024 and 69% of those cases (198 of 285) were outbreak-associated.
“I am speaking today not just as a pediatrician but as a mother,” said Dr. Molly Markowitz, chair of the advocacy committee for the Connecticut American Academy of Pediatrics. “I hope to speak directly to Connecticut families to let them know that vaccines are safe, effective, and save lives. If you have questions or concerns, please reach out to your trusted pediatrician. We are here for you.”
Markowitz pointed to a recent report from the CDC showing that for children born between 1994 and 2023, childhood immunizations in the US had prevented 508 million cases of illnesses, 32 million hospitalizations, and 1,129,000 deaths. The report says that economically, the estimated direct cost-savings of those prevented infections comes to $540 billion while society overall saved $2.7 trillion in economic productivity.
“However, as a parent and pediatrician, I also focus on a much smaller number: one child’s death,” she said. “The death of one child from a vaccine-preventable disease is too many.”
State Sen. Saud Anwar, a medical doctor from South Windsor, called vaccines one of the most successful health initiatives in the history of public health. He compared the incidence of death from preventable disease in the United States to underdeveloped areas around the world, where vaccines are not readily available.
“Vaccines have been so successful in our society that they have somewhat become a victim of their own success, because for almost two and a half or three generations people have not seen the illnesses that have been preventable in our country,” Anwar said. “And that’s one of the reasons that some people feel that these illnesses are not real. They’re very real. As a physician who actually does travel and look at other parts of the world, and sometimes volunteers to help take care of children and adults, I know that these illnesses are real and you do not want to wish it on your worst enemy or anyone that you would ever come across.”
Dr. Saud Anwar, who also serves as the state senator from South Windsor, speaks about the importance of vaccinations Tuesday, March 25, 2025, during a news conference at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford. Credit: Jamil Ragland / CTNewsJunkie
Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey, D-Fairfield, described her own experience with loss as a result of a preventable disease.
“I’m someone who last year lost a family member to the flu, a 43-year-old with no underlying health conditions,” McCarthy Vahey said. “So I’m here today to say that vaccines save lives. In a media and messaging landscape where misinformation runs rampant, and knowing that many Americans now get their news from social media, on YouTube, we are going to need to rely even more on our trusted messengers.”
McCarthy Vahey also spoke about Connecticut’s recent history with vaccine hesitancy, noting that the state’s trendlines on childhood immunization had been moving downward until a few years ago.
The reversal of the trend in Connecticut’s immunization regime followed the passage of Public Act 21-6, which removed religious and other nonmedical exemptions for students receiving vaccinations to enter public schools, according to Markowitz.
“We have seen with the change in the policy of requiring vaccines to enter school, and no longer having the religious exemption, an increase in vaccination rates,” she said.
Dr. Marietta Vazquez called on local leaders to encourage families to vaccinate their children, noting that vaccines themselves can’t make a difference until they are delivered.
“To our elected officials, your leadership matters,” Vazquez said. “This is a very important time to stick to what we think is right. You’ve heard vaccines save lives. I say vaccination saves lives. If we have great vaccines, but those vaccines don’t reach the children and the older adolescents and the adults and the elderly that they need to, they’re not going to save lives.”
According to the CDC, in order to achieve herd immunity against measles, 95% of a given population needs to be fully vaccinated. Herd immunity is an epidemiological concept where high rates of immunizations protect those who are not immunized.
However, according to the state’s 2023-24 school year data on kindergarten immunization rates by school, there were 62 elementary schools with immunization rates below 95%. Of those, 26 were below 90%, and five schools had rates below 80%. The school with the lowest rate of immunization – Stamford Charter School For Excellence – had just 62.5% of its kindergarteners fully immunized.
Waterbury led the list with seven elementary schools where immunizations for measles were below 90%. Bridgeport was second with four, followed by Hartford with three. Schools in Mansfield, Ledyard, Moosup, and other small towns also had schools with sub-90% immunization.