On Wednesday, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) held a press briefing to discuss four confirmed cases of measles in New York.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Listen to the scientists, the experts, and we put shots in arms and together we conquered the
00:06pandemic and saved countless lives. Much of that work was done because of the incredible, dedicated,
00:14underappreciated by many, the staff here at Wadsworth. And I want to thank them always for
00:20being on the front line during those dark, dark days and the sleepless nights and long,
00:25long months of research and making sure we had supply of our vaccinations, but also what they're
00:30doing now. And I want to thank especially Dr. Leonard Peruski, our director, and I want to
00:35recognize him for leading an incredible team here as well. I'm also joined by Dr. McDonald,
00:41our commissioner of health. I'll be introducing him momentarily, and Catherine Garcia,
00:45head of state operations. We're here today at Wadsworth because since the beginning of the
00:50year, New York has now reported four individual cases of measles. Now, this cannot be classified
00:57as an outbreak. We know how to handle this. We do not have another pandemic on our hands, but
01:03at this early stage, I thought it was important to sound the alarm to provide New Yorkers
01:08information and share our plan for stopping the spread of this disease any further.
01:14First, here are the facts. Like I said, we have four individual cases that we believe are
01:19unrelated, three in New York City, one in Suffolk County. Now, these numbers themselves are not
01:25inherently a cause for concern. And for example, in 2024, we had 15 cases, but nationwide, we're
01:32seeing very concerning trends, 350 measles cases around the country. 81% right now are part of an
01:40outbreak in West Texas. And of those sick in West Texas, three quarters are unvaccinated.
01:49And also of great concern to us as a border state to Canada, there are 350 cases reported since last
01:58fall in Ontario, literally right across the border from our state. So the good news is we're alert,
02:06we're vigilant, we're watching, but also we have the power to stop any outbreak. It rests in our
02:12hands. Now, the measles vaccine is remarkably effective. According to the CDC, two doses of
02:18the MMR vaccine have a 97% effective rate. And this is available to all. Now, children get the shots,
02:26but also if you're not sure if you had a shot when you were a child, you should see your doctor.
02:32Make sure that there's no danger in talking to your doctor about possibly getting immunized once
02:37again. And if you have your vaccination, the overwhelming evidence is that you'll be safe.
02:44It's the only thing to do. It's smart, it's responsible. For young people, the elderly,
02:49the immunocompromised, those are especially vulnerable individuals. So it's also not just
02:54protecting yourself similar to the COVID vaccine, it's about protecting your community. And this is
02:59what the doctor will be speaking about momentarily as well. I know vaccinations have for some reason
03:04become a very divisive topic in recent years. It pains me to think that in the year 2025,
03:11that we're still debating whether vaccinations are safe, when in fact the scientific evidence
03:18is overwhelming. And I want to speak directly to the leaders of our state, our clergy, the activists,
03:24the mentors, those who are looked up to, the pillars of our communities, who are really
03:30the ones who are the honest brokers, the ones who speak truth and people listen. I want them to help
03:36us take on this threat by helping get more information about vaccinations and literally
03:41getting shots in arms. Help us encourage everyday New Yorkers who want only the best for their
03:47families to get the vaccination, because there are numbers that are still deeply troubling.
03:52I look at some, I look at the numbers of our state. Orange County, 64.9% are vaccinated.
04:01Yates County, only 55.8% are vaccinated. Now the majority overall, 81% for the state of New York,
04:10that's a good number. It should be a higher number because otherwise, again, we are exposed.
04:16West Texas may seem like a long way off. Ontario is just across the border. And that is what people
04:22need to be aware of and why we're being so vigilant at this time. But I know a little
04:28bit about this because as a mom, I took my kids to those shots. I listened to them cry,
04:34but knew it was very, very important for their long-term health. And that's why we do what we
04:37do, looking out for our most precious, the most precious individuals in our world to us are our
04:42children. And I want to make sure that people know that when wrong information is being
04:47disseminated, that the truth tellers stand up and say, no, that is not accurate. Now our concern
04:52also lies with the fact that the health and human services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
04:59is the nation's leading vaccination skeptic. He's been quoted as saying that cod liver oil
05:06has been very good at results for people who are sick with measles.
05:11Do you agree with that Dr. McDonald? No, it's terrible. All right. It's terrible. You heard
05:15it from Dr. McDonald. It is terrible. That is wrong. Cod liver oil will not protect you from
05:19measles. It's baseless. It's irresponsible and puts lives at risk. He also said the decision
05:27to vaccinate is a personal one. A personal decision is what are you going to do tonight for dinner?
05:33What are your weekend plans? What's for lunch? Those are personal decisions. But when it comes
05:40to the overall health of our state and the people we love, it's much larger than a personal
05:45decision. Let me end with this. We've had measles available since 1963. The vaccination has been
05:55determined to have saved 60 million lives over the last 20 years alone. 60 million lives. That's
06:01extraordinary. We cannot go backwards in this time of fear and disinformation. It'll only wreak
06:07havoc on our state. So I'm encouraging everyone, let's go forward together into an era where we
06:13actually respect the doctors and the researchers and scientific advancement. So no child ever has
06:18to suffer the effects of a 140 degree fever or the pain of a burning rash. We can make our society
06:26free, free from this, or at least our state. That's what I'm calling on all New Yorkers. If
06:31you've not been vaccinated, your child's not vaccinated, please step up and get it done.
06:35Adults, if you're not sure, there's no harm in asking again.
06:39And for anyone looking for more information, we ask you to visit our website,
06:42ny.gov slash measles. Now I'd like to invite Commissioner McDonald
06:47to speak about his experience as a doctor.
06:53Thanks, Governor Hochul, and welcome, everyone, to one of our state health labs. It's good to
06:58have you here at Wadsworth. Thanks, Dr. Peruski, for making us feel so welcome.
07:02I just want to talk a little bit about immunization rates first. I want to just put a
07:07little bit of specificity about our numbers in New York State. So when you look at one of the
07:11metrics I look at is, what percentage of children do I have immunized under the age of two? The
07:16number I want to see is over 95%. What I have in New York State right now is 81.4%. What we see
07:24in New York, people are getting their vaccine eventually. So by kindergarten, I need you to
07:29have two doses, and then I get up to over 90%. Still not over the 95% number I'm looking for.
07:37One of the things Governor Hochul talked about, though, is I have certain regions of the state
07:41where the vaccine reluctance is more of a concern than others. And I say reluctance intentionally.
07:47You know, I think there's a lot of reasons why people choose not to get a vaccine. But really,
07:52I think one of the things to underscore is the measles, mumps, or umbrella vaccine,
07:55the one we use right now, that's been around since 1971. That's 54 years for those of you who
08:02couldn't do the math really quick in your head. And the original measles vaccine's been around
08:06since 1963. A very safe vaccine. I've been a pediatrician for over 35 years. I still haven't
08:14had a parent call me after the measles, mumps, or umbrella vaccine with a serious concern.
08:19And I've personally administered over tens of thousands of doses of vaccine. So I know what
08:23the measles, mumps, umbrella vaccine does. It protects children from measles. I want to talk a
08:29little bit, though, about the clinical presentation of measles. It's very likely no one in this room
08:35has ever seen anyone with measles except for me. So I thought I'd just share with you how measles
08:41usually presents. The first couple days, and I just want to keep this in mind, you don't show
08:46your measles symptoms until about 7 to 14 days after you're exposed. Just keep in mind, by the
08:51way, if in a room like this, if someone had measles and you guys weren't vaccinated, everybody
08:57would get measles. It's that contagious, right? Not even just everybody in the room, but anybody
09:01who walked in the room for the next hour and a half. I just want to underscore how contagious
09:05measles is. So the way the clinical presentation starts is someone starts with a cough, runny nose,
09:11runny eyes, and a fever. So it starts to look like a common cold at that point. Although,
09:15the fever can get up to 105, 104. So that's a little different than most colds, right?
09:20Then what happens next, a couple days later, is you get these little spots inside your mouth
09:24called coplic spots. And coplic spots are unique to measles. They see them in no other disease.
09:32And then the telltale rash of measles appears. It's kind of this flat red rash, and then red
09:37bumps appear. It starts on the head, goes down the trunk, and over to the extremities.
09:42So that's what happens with measles. Now keep in mind, people are most contagious with measles
09:47four days before they get the rash and four days after they've had the rash. A couple things
09:53about measles, you know, it's not a harmless childhood infection. That's really not true.
10:00If you look at the numbers on the U.S. outbreak right now, you know, keep in mind, 350 cases in
10:07the United States right now, that's a lot. But you're seeing about one in five, or 20%, end up
10:12in the hospital. That means they were sick enough to end up in a hospital. That's a number that
10:17should bother everybody. That's a lot of people ending up in the hospital. Keep in mind, 75% of
10:23the people who are getting measles in the United States are under 19 years old. So we're talking
10:26about children. The most common complication of measles is pneumonia, an infection in your lungs.
10:33Less common, but more serious, is encephalitis. Encephalitis is an infection around your brain.
10:39So that's very serious as well. One of the things that happens with measles, by the way, too,
10:42which doesn't happen with other diseases, this has only been learned in the last decade or so,
10:47is something called measles immune amnesia. In other words, if you get measles for the next
10:52couple weeks, couple months, or year, depending on who you are in your immune system, your immune
10:57system forgets how to fight other infections. So you're more susceptible to other infections.
11:03And so that's just one of the reasons why I make sure it's really clear. Measles is not a harmless
11:07childhood infection. Measles is a serious disease, and it can be prevented. So I want to talk a
11:14little bit more about what we're doing as New York State Department of Health about this. So February
11:1926, we sent out a provider advisory to all the local health departments, all the health care
11:24providers in New York State. And here's what we said. Here's what the situation is in the United
11:29States with measles. We're reminding people, what does measles look like? Keep in mind,
11:33most physicians have never seen a patient with measles. They've just learned about it from books.
11:38And then we also remind people, how do you get the specimen to test for measles? Because,
11:41you know, as a doctor, if you don't do something often, you don't always remember how to get the
11:45test. So how do we get the specimen and where it needs to go to? And I think it's important
11:49that people understand, we interact with local health departments and health care providers a
11:52lot, their health advisories a lot. We're their expert, and we're making sure they're your expert.
11:58Another thing we did is we made a one-minute public service announcement. What I did is I
12:02spoke directly to individuals. It's circulating right now on social media, just explaining to
12:07people what measles is, why the vaccine is so important. And just an example of one of the
12:13things we do, we interact all year long with local health departments and other experts. But
12:18yesterday, for example, I was in Saratoga. We had this statewide immunization meeting where all the
12:23local health departments were convened. And we talked not just about measles, but all vaccine
12:27preventable diseases, just to get new ideas and new strides about how to really address vaccine
12:32hesitancy, but just as importantly, to address vaccine confidence and make sure we understand
12:38that people can show up vaccine confidence. One of the things I really thought that was great
12:41that Governor Hochul said, I think it's so important, is it's really important for community
12:46leaders to be ambassadors for immunizations. I've been a pediatrician for 35 years. I have the
12:54safest, most effective vaccines I've ever seen in my career.
12:58I want everyone to be prevented from getting these diseases. And I want to underscore
13:02how effective they are. The measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine, 97% effective. We could achieve
13:09herd immunity. And one of the things I want to close with is this disease should be eliminated,
13:15not just in the United States, but across the globe. We could actually eradicate measles across
13:21the globe. It's not for want of technology. It's just for want of people, not just in New York,
13:26not just in the United States, but across the globe, availing themselves to the vaccine.
13:30Fortunately, in New York state, in the United States, there's no shortage of vaccine,
13:33plenty available. Anybody can get it who wants it. And with that, I'm going to turn it back
13:37over to the governor. Thank you very much. Thank you, Dr. McDonald. Always reminded me why
13:46I selected you as my commissioner of health. You just have a down-to-earth,
13:50natural way of communicating that is so relatable. And that is one of your greatest strengths. And
13:56you always take it back to your days as a pediatrician, which is so valuable. Again,
14:00having seen measles cases, unlike many people in the profession, certainly gives us an advantage
14:05here in the state. So thank you for all you do. And happy to take any on-topic questions.
14:12Governor, the patients in New York state who have been diagnosed,
14:16did they travel elsewhere or did others from other places in the country visit them?
14:21Do you have the data? Yeah, we have that.
14:24So that's a great question, right? Because one of the things you're asking is,
14:27is it imported, right? And so of the four cases, three were imported. In other words,
14:32travel-associated cases. The other one we don't have a source for. But one of the things that's
14:37important to understand is right now, we haven't seen any secondary cases from measles. And I want
14:42to underscore, that's not an accident. That's because local health departments do the hard work
14:46of doing, informing everyone, finding out who's a contact. And one of the things you can do for
14:50someone if you've been exposed to measles, we'll give you post-exposure prophylaxis. In other words,
14:55immune globulin, if you haven't had the vaccine. But I need people to really, I don't want to keep
14:59driving this point home, my friends, but it's the main point. I have a safe and effective vaccine
15:03that's been around since 1971. Best protection available. Please don't get lost in this. And
15:08here's the thing. Some of you look like you might have been born before 1957. I won't tell you who.
15:14But if you've been born since before 1957, you're considered measles immune. If you've been born
15:19after 1957, you need two doses. So we give now one dose when you're 12 to 15 months old,
15:26and the second dose when you're going to kindergarten, right? But if you're an adult,
15:30and you haven't had two doses, don't get blood titers to see if you're immune. Just ask your
15:34doctor for the second dose of measles, mumps, or umbrella vaccine. Thank you.
15:39Another question for Dr. McDonald. If parents suspect that their child might be infected,
15:44would it be irresponsible? Would it put others at risk to take that child to the ER?
15:50So if you suspect your child has measles, what you want to do is call your doctor first.
15:56Because, you know, what a lot of doctors just have a way to enter the office
16:00so you can be seen here, right? And then you can see it privately. When you go to the emergency
16:05department, what you end up doing is exposing everyone else in the emergency department.
16:10Remember how I gave the illustration of this room? If someone had measles, we all weren't immunized,
16:14everybody would be infected, right? So if you go to the emergency department,
16:18you're exposing everyone to your case of measles. Now, when you think of that waiting room in the
16:22emergency department, you don't know who's had the measles vaccine and you also don't know,
16:28more importantly, who's got a compromised immune system. There's a reason why they're
16:32called emergency departments. Everybody goes there, right? So you really don't want to go
16:35to the emergency department unless it's really an emergency. And even then, you want to call
16:39ahead and let them know you're coming because they usually have a way for you to enter there.
16:42So I think it's important to be very thoughtful about how you're going to access health care.
16:45Okay. Raghav? For the governor. You mentioned the misinformation and some of the vaccine
16:53skepticism that's been coming from the White House and the cabinet. Is it your responsibility
16:59and that of other governors to sort of push back on that rhetoric directly with these folks? We're
17:04talking RFK Jr., we're talking the president. How do you see yourself starting those conversations
17:09and have you had any of those conversations with the president and with other members of this
17:13cabinet on this public health issue? I'm doing what I need to do, which is communicate directly
17:18with the people of New York today and through our other channels and to let them know that
17:24they're being lied to. I can say that clearly. But what's more important is for trusted
17:30individuals in the community, the clergy, the community leaders, the people that they trust
17:34also to be reinforcing this, that don't believe it just because you saw it on social media.
17:38It does not make it true. Stick with the doctors, stick with the facts. So pushing back on
17:45Washington to try to convince Secretary Robert Kennedy that he's wrong is probably a waste of
17:52time. I mean, he's had a lifetime of spewing these lies. I don't think that me telling him
17:57he's wrong is going to change it. I have to be the truth teller to the people of this state,
18:01and that's the role I'm playing right now. And a quick follow up. The restriction,
18:05is there any consideration of restrictions on the states, Texas, I think New Mexico,
18:10maybe Canada, that you're considering at all to try to limit the import of this?
18:14You know, we are concerned about the numbers in Ontario right now, but I don't know that we've
18:17entertained restrictions on that. Or Catherine, have we? No, not at this time. There'll be
18:22a threshold number that raises the red flag, correct?
18:27Yeah. Best thing to do is just get vaccinated, then we don't have to worry about travel advisories,
18:30my friends.
18:30Yeah. Get vaccinated, then you don't have to worry about it. Go anywhere you want.
18:33Over here in the back.
18:35Do we know if these four cases were vaccinated or unvaccinated individuals?
18:40I know the answer to that.
18:41I bet you do. It's why you're here.
18:45They were not vaccinated. And there's no epidemiologic link between the four.
18:50And we're talking about data for 2025, so all of March right now.
18:55They're not all happening right now. They're all happened.
18:59Any other on topic questions? John?
19:02Hi. I'm curious, is this a situation where,
19:05Commissioner, where you would recommend masking in public?
19:12No. What I recommend everybody do is make sure you have two doses of the measles,
19:15mumps, and borrelia vaccine. Folks, the technology exists. It's proven. It's been
19:18around a long time. I don't want to be ambiguous about this at all.
19:22The measles, mumps, and borrelia vaccine, it's the best protection.
19:25Anything else you're hearing from anybody else is just noise.
19:28I really, really want to make sure that's really clear. Thank you.
19:32Governor, as a follow-up to that, lawmakers have said that you're pushing some sort of mask
19:39restrictions. That is too far off topic.
19:41Okay. That's very much on topic,
19:43is it not? I mean, are there help? Well, we're talking about measles here today.
19:47No, there's absolutely, I have said before that I support some variation of a restrictions on the
19:54use of masks, except for medical and religious reasons. Masks used in a commission of a crime
20:01are deeply troubling to me. Think about a bank robber, walks in, their face is covered.
20:06Someone assaults someone on the subway, they can get away with it, despite the fact that we have
20:10cameras, because they are masked. And so this is something that as I'm protecting public safety,
20:16is very much top of mind. So we're having conversations. We'll see how it goes.
20:19Austin.
20:20To what extent should we expect these cases to go up in 2025?
20:24I'm nervous about Ontario being so close to us, to be honest with you.
20:29I'm from that area. It's not a foreign country to people in Western New York. It is where you go for
20:34dinner and shopping back and forth across the border, sports events, et cetera. And those are
20:39large gatherings. So that's my concern right now, that that could spike. For this early in year,
20:47you know, if we keep this, you know, we're on track to be higher than last year, for sure,
20:52at this rate. But we're not seeing a trend out of Ontario, but we're watching it closely, right?
21:02The best way to prevent cases from going up in New York is everybody getting vaccinated, folks.
21:06And I want to answer that specifically, like, if you import a case into New York state,
21:11depends on which county. If you look at some of our counties, they're much higher risk than
21:16others, because if your immunization rates are low, then that county is much higher risk.
21:21When I look at Erie County, it's 87.7% for people under two. It's not over 95%. So, you know,
21:29part of what I want to be really, really clear about is this doesn't have to be a risk at all
21:33to see increased cases. And I think with Ontario, we're talking to them, working with them. They're
21:37lovely people, but it's really getting back to, we need herd immunity. Herd immunity is a little
21:42over 95%. And I think that's extremely achievable. No shortage of vaccine, very available to
21:47everybody. Thank you. Anything else on topic? Jack? Yeah, I'm just curious, you know, going
21:52back to what we were talking about in the beginning, is there any chance of separating
21:56this out from being a political issue as somebody who, you know, millions of New Yorkers associate
22:02with their political aggravations? How do you, you know, decouple vaccines from politics at this
22:08point? I have one of the most credible people to speak on this with great authority that you
22:15could ever find. I hope people will separate politics. I'm not here to make a political
22:20statement. I'm here to save people's lives. That's my number one job as New York, as the
22:24governor of New York, is to protect the people of the state. This is one way I'm doing this to
22:29protect people of the state, to sound the alarm that if you are not vaccinated, you and your loved
22:33ones are very exposed to a possibly deadly disease. So, but if people don't want to hear it
22:40from me, they should listen to Dr. McDonald. I've been doing this for 35 years. Thanks everybody. I appreciate it.