In connection with the measles epidemic in the United States, RFK Jr. is now on trial

This week, eight public health officials who advise a branch of the United Nations will examine whether the United States can still claim it has eliminated measles.

For the Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ., the longtime vaccine skeptic who has led the U.S. response to the thousands of cases that have erupted since last year, will be a legacy-defining decision.

The Pan American Health Organization’s answer seems obvious, with measles ravaging Pennsylvania and New York in states of emergency and more than 7,000 infections reported nationwide since January 2025. But officials will have to determine that a single chain of transmission has continued for at least a year to remove measles’ elimination status.

Otherwise, Kennedy will have more time to try to demonstrate that his agency can curb the spread of measles, a disease that can only be contained when the vaccination rate is at least 95 percent, even as he seeks to reduce the schedule of vaccinating children. discouraging school vaccination mandates and promote his discredited belief that vaccines cause far more harm than the government has acknowledged.