In Rural Texas, a Measles Outbreak Hasn’t Swayed Vaccine Skeptics

SEMINOLE, Texas—The dusty plains of Gaines County stretch endlessly, peanut fields fading into cotton farms and oil fields, punctuated by signs touting God. This sprawling rural region is defined by oil, agriculture and a large Mennonite community—members of the Anabaptist family of churches that includes the Amish—who emigrated here from Mexico in the 1970s. Now, it is also the epicenter of a measles outbreak that has spread across nine counties since late January, leading to nearly 200 documented infections, 23 hospitalizations and the nation’s first measles-related death in a decade. The same strain of the measles is responsible for 30 reported cases across the state line in Lea County, New Mexico, where a measles-related death is under investigation. Gaines County exemplifies pockets of America where antivaccine sentiment has surged, fueled by deepening distrust in the U.S. government after the pandemic. With many states making it easier to get vaccine exemptions for school-age children, what was once a rare exception has become common. “Personal choice” is a term I heard many times when talking to Gaines County area residents about the decision to get a vaccine, even among health officials. What has long been hailed by doctors as a critical lifesaving public-health tool is now considered optional. Source