It’s about time, and it’s right that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did this because there’s no evidence. Pennsylvania jumped the gun, declaring that they had two measles deaths, and shame on President Trump and his administration for tweaking the vaccine schedule. There’s just one problem: dying from measles and dying with measles are two different things, so Gov. Josh Shapiro spread panic over nothing. 

One of the fatalities was a baby whose cause of death was a lacerated spleen. We still don’t have any additional information about the second measles-associated victim. Funny how we went from ‘death by measles’ to measles-associated — it’s why this story has died. There’s nothing left to use to attack Trump (via NYT):

The new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ordered agency officials to challenge two measles deaths reported by Pennsylvania, shunning the agency’s normal procedure of accepting data shared by states and amplifying comments made by her boss, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The incident draws the C.D.C. into a highly political disagreement about whether the deaths were a result of measles or merely coincided with the infection, echoing similar disputes over causes of death during the coronavirus pandemic.

It also pits the agency against a state health department, an extraordinary move for the C.D.C. But the episode is emblematic of the Trump administration’s continuing tussle with states, particularly those led by Democrats, over health policies and priorities.

[…]

One of the two deaths involved a newborn with a ruptured spleen. Details of the second case have not been disclosed, but both people were unvaccinated and both tested positive for the measles virus, according to the Pennsylvania Health Department.

Dr. Erica Schwartz, who has expressed strong, public support of childhood vaccines, was confirmed as C.D.C. director this month, despite persistent questions during her confirmation hearing about her willingness and ability to push back against Mr. Kennedy’s actions. She has repeatedly promised to “follow the science” and promised the agency’s staff that she was prepared to disagree with her superiors when needed, and that she would work to build trust with state partners.

But the current incident threatens to do the opposite, some public health experts cautioned.

God, is it too early to start drinking? If they didn’t die of measles and the state says otherwise, then yes, you challenge the findings. They’re crap — this isn’t COVID anymore. No one died of measles in Pennsylvania. And can we stop acting like unvaccinated people are a new Trump-era phenomenon? Marin County, California, had measles outbreaks, and its residents are pink right down to their underwear.