WEBVTT - Anti-Vax America: Viral Texas 0:00:01.720 --> 0:00:04.920 Cool Zone Media. 0:00:05.400 --> 0:00:08.840 I'm Stephen Monchelli. I'm a journalist in Dallas and an 0:00:08.880 --> 0:00:12.760 occasional Cool Zone Media contributor. You may have seen in 0:00:12.760 --> 0:00:16.480 the news lately that there's a major measles outbreak centered 0:00:16.520 --> 0:00:19.720 in Texas. It started back in January of this year 0:00:20.120 --> 0:00:22.720 in the West Texas County of Gaines, and it has 0:00:22.760 --> 0:00:26.079 since spread to at least two other states. As of 0:00:26.120 --> 0:00:29.720 this recording, Texas has reported over seven hundred cases associated 0:00:29.720 --> 0:00:33.280 with the measles outbreak. New Mexico has reported over sixty, 0:00:33.920 --> 0:00:38.040 Oklahoma has reported over fifteen, and there are other states 0:00:38.360 --> 0:00:41.040 that have also reported measles cases that may or may 0:00:41.080 --> 0:00:45.440 not be linked to this outbreak. It's the first major 0:00:45.520 --> 0:00:49.960 measles outbreak in a decade, and it's already taken three lives, 0:00:50.560 --> 0:00:53.880 two unvaccinated children, the first of such deaths in more 0:00:53.880 --> 0:00:59.720 than twenty years, and one adult. All were unvaccinated at 0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:03.760 the res of the outbreak are low vaccination rates, which 0:01:03.800 --> 0:01:06.560 took a sharp downturn after the twenty twenty COVID nineteen 0:01:06.600 --> 0:01:11.080 pandemic as dubious vaccine skepticism and opposition to vaccines, both 0:01:11.400 --> 0:01:16.240 mandatory and in general, became a partisan political issue. It 0:01:16.360 --> 0:01:20.039 is no coincidence that the low vaccination rate in Gaines County, 0:01:20.080 --> 0:01:25.119 where the outbreak first began, corresponds with deep red Republican politics. 0:01:26.319 --> 0:01:29.160 Measles is a sort of canary in the coal mine. 0:01:29.480 --> 0:01:32.840 It's one of the most highly communicable diseases and consequently 0:01:32.920 --> 0:01:35.400 is among the first to appear in communities with low 0:01:35.480 --> 0:01:39.399 vaccination rates. An outbreak in California about a decade ago 0:01:39.600 --> 0:01:43.120 was eventually stemmed when the state legislature banned vaccine exemptions 0:01:43.160 --> 0:01:46.920 for school aged children. This action spurred response and gave 0:01:47.120 --> 0:01:49.520 a shot in the arm to a nascon coalition of 0:01:49.560 --> 0:01:54.080 vaccine skeptics and outright anti vaccination groups that had previously 0:01:54.120 --> 0:01:58.600 struggled to get political traction. By twenty twenty, such groups 0:01:58.600 --> 0:02:01.080 had gained meaningful amounts of infolruents in red states like 0:02:01.200 --> 0:02:05.360 Texas and Oklahoma. Then came COVID nineteen, and suddenly a 0:02:05.440 --> 0:02:10.520 disparate set of groups big pharma skeptics, wellness influencers, health 0:02:10.560 --> 0:02:14.720 freedom libertarians, and conservative religious groups, to name a few, 0:02:15.280 --> 0:02:18.760 coalesced in a formidable political force under the banner of 0:02:18.800 --> 0:02:22.680 the Republican Party, whose politicization of the COVID nineteen pandemics 0:02:22.720 --> 0:02:25.960 served as a sort of ideological cement to unite them. 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:29.280 The logical conclusion of this development is represented in the 0:02:29.320 --> 0:02:34.120 avatar of RFK Junior, a long time vaccine misinformation peddler 0:02:34.120 --> 0:02:38.080 who now sits atop the highest federal government health bureaucracy, 0:02:38.560 --> 0:02:41.400 a perch from which he continues to spread debunked anti 0:02:41.480 --> 0:02:46.400 vaccination tropes like a proverbial fox in the henhouse. RFK 0:02:46.560 --> 0:02:49.280 Junior has repeatedly downplayed the importance of vaccines in the 0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:52.400 battle against measles, and has refused to distance himself from 0:02:52.480 --> 0:02:57.240 long debunked anti vaccination arguments such as that vaccines cause autism. 0:02:57.919 --> 0:03:00.639 His influence and the influence of the vaccine Skins movement, 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:02.760 of which he is a central figure, can be seen 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:06.440 in responses from local West Texans who have opted for 0:03:06.720 --> 0:03:11.640 junk palliatives like vitamin A or measles exposure parties over vaccination. 0:03:12.720 --> 0:03:15.480 The viral spread of anti vax ideology threatens to pitch 0:03:15.560 --> 0:03:18.280 us back one hundred years in time, when thousands of 0:03:18.360 --> 0:03:21.799 children and adults either died or disabled every year from 0:03:21.840 --> 0:03:26.839 diseases like measles, polio, and smallpox. Research into the side 0:03:26.840 --> 0:03:30.960 effects of vaccines has repeatedly shown that the risks associated 0:03:31.000 --> 0:03:35.080 with vaccination are far lower than the risks of an infection, 0:03:35.400 --> 0:03:39.920 particularly for vulnerable populations like young children, the elderly, and 0:03:39.960 --> 0:03:44.680 people with suppressed immune systems. Some people genuinely cannot get vaccines, 0:03:44.760 --> 0:03:47.920 such as certain new board babies, and thus are at 0:03:48.040 --> 0:03:51.080 higher risk should an outbreak of a deadly disease occur. 0:03:51.800 --> 0:03:54.040 When ninety five percent of a population is vaccinated in 0:03:54.080 --> 0:03:58.440 an area, diseases can be entirely removed from circulation, and 0:03:58.480 --> 0:04:01.880 that's indeed what happened to smallpox and for a time, measles. 0:04:02.680 --> 0:04:06.320 But the downward trend in vaccination rates, supercharged by the 0:04:06.320 --> 0:04:09.480 marriage of right wing politics with anti vaccination beliefs of 0:04:09.520 --> 0:04:13.240 all stripes, means that our collective immunity is at risk. 0:04:14.400 --> 0:04:16.719 This week, I will be your host on It Could 0:04:16.760 --> 0:04:19.600 Happen Here As I take you through a five episode 0:04:19.680 --> 0:04:24.839 mini series called Anti vax America, three interviews with public 0:04:24.880 --> 0:04:29.240 health officials, vaccine scientists, medical professionals, and historians. I will 0:04:29.279 --> 0:04:32.760 explore the ongoing measles outbreak and how it serves as 0:04:32.800 --> 0:04:35.800 a microcosm for where we are, how we got here, 0:04:36.000 --> 0:04:39.120 and where we could go if anti vaxx beliefs continue 0:04:39.200 --> 0:04:43.160 to become mainstream in the United States. In the first episode, 0:04:43.200 --> 0:04:45.760 I will cover the origin of the measles outbreak in Texas, 0:04:46.120 --> 0:04:50.240 it's deadly consequences, the varying responses from public health officials 0:04:50.360 --> 0:04:55.800 at different levels of government, and the consequence of misinformation 0:04:56.000 --> 0:04:59.120 being spread at the national and local level. In the 0:04:59.160 --> 0:05:01.719 second episode, I will on earth the deep roots of 0:05:01.760 --> 0:05:05.280 anti vaccination belief in the United States, how it's changed 0:05:05.320 --> 0:05:08.960 over time, and why it's basically become synonymous with right 0:05:09.000 --> 0:05:12.160 wing politics in our current day. In the third episode, 0:05:12.200 --> 0:05:15.160 I will explore the overlap between anti vaxx beliefs and 0:05:15.200 --> 0:05:18.919 the belief in supernatural healing and miracles that is common 0:05:19.080 --> 0:05:22.840 among a particular movement of conservative Christianity that has tied 0:05:22.880 --> 0:05:27.360 itself closely to President Donald Trump. In the fourth episode, 0:05:27.400 --> 0:05:30.279 I will untangle the twisted history of eugenics and how 0:05:30.279 --> 0:05:34.240 it's influenced public health and vaccination attitudes, as well as 0:05:34.279 --> 0:05:37.200 the historical echo of eugenics that can be found in 0:05:37.320 --> 0:05:41.800 RFK Juniors Make America Healthy Again agenda. And in the 0:05:41.839 --> 0:05:45.880 last episode, I'll consider what could happen in the United States, 0:05:46.160 --> 0:05:50.240 What could happen here if vaccination rates continue to plummet 0:05:50.360 --> 0:05:54.000 and vaccine skeptics like RFK Junior continue to dictate public 0:05:54.000 --> 0:05:58.159 health policy. But before we get there, a quick ad break. 0:06:09.360 --> 0:06:13.560 Gaines County, the epicenter of the West Texas outbreak, is 0:06:13.600 --> 0:06:18.880 a largely rural place home to oil field workers, farmers, ranchers, 0:06:19.560 --> 0:06:25.200 and several Mennonite communities. Politically, it's very conservative. It sits 0:06:25.240 --> 0:06:27.840 on the Texas New Mexico border, about three hundred and 0:06:27.880 --> 0:06:31.120 sixty miles west of Dallas, where I live. The largest 0:06:31.120 --> 0:06:34.960 city in the region, Lubbock, is two counties over. Lubbock 0:06:35.000 --> 0:06:37.960 is home to two hundred and sixty thousand plus people 0:06:38.000 --> 0:06:41.120 and has the largest hospitals in the area. It was 0:06:41.200 --> 0:06:44.080 at one of those hospitals that the first child died 0:06:44.080 --> 0:06:47.359 of measles in over two decades. As the number of 0:06:47.440 --> 0:06:50.520 cases in the region began to increase, Lubbock became a 0:06:50.520 --> 0:06:53.320 central hub for both treatment and the dissemination of public 0:06:53.400 --> 0:06:58.080 health information. Weeks before RFK Junior or Texas Governor Abbot 0:06:58.320 --> 0:07:01.119 spoke on the issue, local pub health officials and medical 0:07:01.160 --> 0:07:04.040 institutions were on the front lines in Lubbock. 0:07:07.960 --> 0:07:10.800 So my name's Catherine Wells, and I am the director 0:07:11.080 --> 0:07:16.080 for Lubbock Public Health and Lubbock Public Health is the 0:07:16.080 --> 0:07:19.920 city and county health department in both the city and 0:07:20.000 --> 0:07:23.480 county of Lubbock, Texas. I've been in this role for 0:07:23.560 --> 0:07:30.000 about ten years now. We're about seventy five miles from 0:07:30.120 --> 0:07:32.960 Gaines County, which is where kind of the epicenter of 0:07:33.000 --> 0:07:34.640 this measles outbreak is. 0:07:35.400 --> 0:07:38.520 Let's maybe go back all the way to the day 0:07:38.800 --> 0:07:41.880 that you know it sort of began. The first case 0:07:42.040 --> 0:07:44.720 came out in January, So can you take us a 0:07:44.720 --> 0:07:47.920 little back to that day and what was going on 0:07:48.040 --> 0:07:50.400 in your world and you know, what were you doing, 0:07:50.400 --> 0:07:52.200 and how did you hear about this first case and 0:07:52.240 --> 0:07:53.360 what your reaction was. 0:07:53.800 --> 0:07:55.840 And we'll actually need to take a couple of days 0:07:56.360 --> 0:08:00.520 kind of before the announcement. I first found out out 0:08:01.280 --> 0:08:07.320 the possibility of measles that Friday, the twenty eighth. I 0:08:07.360 --> 0:08:11.040 have all my dates messed up, but it's that Friday 0:08:11.120 --> 0:08:14.600 before the first case was announced. One of my staff 0:08:14.680 --> 0:08:18.640 came and told me that we had two children that 0:08:18.720 --> 0:08:21.680 had been admitted to our local hospital. So we have 0:08:21.800 --> 0:08:26.080 the children's hospital for this whole region. People come, you know, 0:08:26.160 --> 0:08:29.760 over two hundred miles to come to the children's hospital 0:08:29.960 --> 0:08:32.840 in Luppock, and she mentioned that there was two children. 0:08:33.400 --> 0:08:36.400 The physician thought it might be measles that they were 0:08:36.760 --> 0:08:40.680 going to send for testing. So in public health, measles 0:08:40.720 --> 0:08:46.000 is so rare that even sending somebody for testing is 0:08:46.040 --> 0:08:49.840 required to be reported to public health. That physician thought 0:08:49.840 --> 0:08:53.000 it was measles. We kind of waited over the weekend, 0:08:53.320 --> 0:08:57.560 and then that Monday and Tuesday, I started hearing some 0:08:57.760 --> 0:09:01.640 rumors that there were measles cases down on the ground 0:09:01.640 --> 0:09:05.320 in Gaines County, which was interesting. People were calling and saying, 0:09:05.360 --> 0:09:07.240 you know, I heard this rumor, have you heard this? 0:09:07.360 --> 0:09:11.600 And I'm like nope. And then all of a sudden, 0:09:13.160 --> 0:09:17.200 those two cases or those two cases both tested positive. 0:09:18.080 --> 0:09:21.120 And then when we went and started talking to the 0:09:21.160 --> 0:09:24.360 families and learning more, we realized that those rumors about 0:09:24.360 --> 0:09:28.240 measles circulating and Gaines County was true, and there were 0:09:28.280 --> 0:09:31.120 reports of you know, multiple individuals that had been sick 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:34.400 and measles had probably been there or at least a 0:09:34.400 --> 0:09:36.240 little bit of time. And then when we got the 0:09:36.360 --> 0:09:40.800 confirmed cases, that really just put everything into really you know, 0:09:40.920 --> 0:09:43.960 moving very quickly trying to really figure out what was 0:09:44.000 --> 0:09:45.880 going on for measles. 0:09:46.480 --> 0:09:50.040 So at that time, it was it was flu season, 0:09:50.160 --> 0:09:53.280 and so were you all was your office preparing, you know, 0:09:53.480 --> 0:09:55.880 or working on anything else at that time when you 0:09:55.920 --> 0:09:59.160 had first heard about this first testing and you know, 0:09:59.200 --> 0:10:00.680 started hearing about these rumors. 0:10:01.320 --> 0:10:04.440 Yeah, I mean, we had increases in flu, we had 0:10:04.480 --> 0:10:08.960 increases in COVID. We actually had some birds that had 0:10:09.040 --> 0:10:12.319 died that had tested positive with the new Avian flu. 0:10:13.280 --> 0:10:17.000 You know, just that's a busy time of the year 0:10:17.040 --> 0:10:20.560 for public health with lots of different reports coming in, 0:10:20.640 --> 0:10:24.040 lots of multiple reports of pertussis, and it's not unusual 0:10:24.120 --> 0:10:26.679 that we have a physician wanting to test for measles 0:10:27.640 --> 0:10:29.800 ruling out I mean, it happens a couple of times 0:10:29.840 --> 0:10:32.920 a year, but in my entire career, every time that happened, 0:10:32.960 --> 0:10:36.280 it had always been negative. So I was kind of 0:10:36.280 --> 0:10:38.640 thinking that it was one of those cases, especially that 0:10:38.679 --> 0:10:42.320 Friday afternoon, like, oh, this is just a doctor, you know, 0:10:43.200 --> 0:10:45.320 you know, just wanting to rule something out. You know, 0:10:45.360 --> 0:10:48.880 it's probably flu or something else going on with those children. 0:10:49.960 --> 0:10:53.040 And so when you had gotten that confirmation, it was 0:10:53.240 --> 0:10:57.640 verified that those cases had indeed been measles. I mean, 0:10:57.640 --> 0:10:59.960 what was going through your mind at that time. 0:11:00.800 --> 0:11:03.640 I mean that was like, you know, people have always 0:11:03.640 --> 0:11:06.160 talked about we're kind of on the edge of seeing 0:11:06.160 --> 0:11:09.160 more measles outbreaks in the United States, and it was 0:11:09.200 --> 0:11:12.800 really kind of a no, no crab moment of Wow, 0:11:12.880 --> 0:11:16.920 this is in our backyard, is our department you know, 0:11:17.040 --> 0:11:20.920 ready to take this on? And then also reaching out 0:11:21.040 --> 0:11:24.280 to Gaines County, which has a much smaller health department, 0:11:24.360 --> 0:11:27.120 and being like, what can we help you with? Do 0:11:27.160 --> 0:11:29.840 you guys know what you need next? You know, they 0:11:29.840 --> 0:11:32.560 don't have a communications person, so it was like my 0:11:32.679 --> 0:11:36.640 staff writing the press release for Gaines County to send 0:11:36.679 --> 0:11:40.520 out to make the notifications about the first measles cases. 0:11:40.920 --> 0:11:42.680 So it was just really what can we do to 0:11:42.720 --> 0:11:45.400 help them immediately and figure out what the next steps 0:11:45.400 --> 0:11:45.959 would be with that. 0:11:46.760 --> 0:11:50.320 So since January, cases have been on the rise, and 0:11:50.400 --> 0:11:54.840 so we're in a different place now than just two cases. 0:11:55.040 --> 0:11:56.560 Can you just tell us a little bit about where 0:11:56.600 --> 0:12:00.600 things are now in Lubbock and how medical forties have 0:12:01.000 --> 0:12:02.400 responded to the outbreak. 0:12:03.480 --> 0:12:07.600 So initially, you know, all of the cases were in 0:12:07.960 --> 0:12:11.800 Gaines County. The only exposures we were seeing outside of 0:12:11.800 --> 0:12:15.600 Gaines County was when somebody was seeking medical care and 0:12:15.760 --> 0:12:18.400 was sitting in like say, a waiting room at a 0:12:18.400 --> 0:12:22.320 physician's office, and then they were exposing other individuals. But 0:12:22.480 --> 0:12:26.240 after a couple of weeks, we started seeing spread outside 0:12:26.240 --> 0:12:29.560 of Gaines County, so we were seeing more and more 0:12:29.600 --> 0:12:32.680 cases in those surrounding counties, and then we started getting 0:12:32.679 --> 0:12:36.720 cases in Lubbock, that's seventy five miles away. Over the 0:12:36.800 --> 0:12:40.920 last three weeks, we've really seen the cases in Lubbock increase. 0:12:42.040 --> 0:12:44.520 You know, we originally just had a handful. Now we're 0:12:44.559 --> 0:12:47.080 up to forty one or forty two, and that number 0:12:47.120 --> 0:12:50.040 will be updated again tomorrow. So just seeing more and 0:12:50.160 --> 0:12:54.360 more spread of measles, and the concern is that public 0:12:54.400 --> 0:12:58.079 Health can't necessarily trace those back to a specific case. 0:12:58.800 --> 0:13:01.720 So people that have got out to the store or 0:13:01.800 --> 0:13:05.840 gone to a public place have now contracted measles. 0:13:06.360 --> 0:13:10.000 So tell me a little bit more about what efforts 0:13:10.040 --> 0:13:13.640 have taken place and what sort of initiatives have been 0:13:14.160 --> 0:13:18.000 put into place as measles has spread. You know, what 0:13:18.040 --> 0:13:21.120 does that look like from love at Public Health or 0:13:21.160 --> 0:13:22.320 any of your partners. 0:13:22.920 --> 0:13:27.360 Yeah, so ours is really the first one was getting 0:13:27.480 --> 0:13:31.040 testing set up Originally when this started, all of our 0:13:31.080 --> 0:13:33.320 testing samples had to go to Austin, which is about 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:36.120 a five and a half hour drive, So working with 0:13:36.200 --> 0:13:39.360 the state Health Department to get testing capability up here 0:13:39.360 --> 0:13:43.240 in Lubbock so we could quickly identify people. The next 0:13:43.240 --> 0:13:49.760 one is really about education, providing information to the physicians' 0:13:49.800 --> 0:13:53.560 offices the hospitals about measles because we hadn't seen it 0:13:53.600 --> 0:13:56.560 in twenty one years here. So just think about how 0:13:56.559 --> 0:13:59.520 many physicians have been trained over the last twenty one 0:13:59.600 --> 0:14:04.000 years never saw a measles case in their residency. So 0:14:04.080 --> 0:14:08.559 getting them to feel comfortable about what the signs and 0:14:08.600 --> 0:14:11.959 symptoms are, and really making sure that we were notifying 0:14:12.160 --> 0:14:14.480 or that they were notifying public health and getting people 0:14:15.000 --> 0:14:17.959 tested and then doing that contact tracing, and then the 0:14:18.000 --> 0:14:21.040 other big ones vaccinations. You know, there's two ways to 0:14:21.040 --> 0:14:23.840 prevent measles. You know, one is the vaccination that's going 0:14:23.880 --> 0:14:26.240 to protect you, and then the other one is avoiding 0:14:26.600 --> 0:14:30.360 being exposed to measles. So really getting more and more 0:14:30.400 --> 0:14:35.000 people vaccinated with pop up clinics and then running a 0:14:35.040 --> 0:14:37.520 measles vaccination clinic here at our Health department. 0:14:37.960 --> 0:14:39.240 Can you tell me a little bit about what the 0:14:39.280 --> 0:14:44.720 response in particular too. You know, the vaccination clinics being 0:14:44.760 --> 0:14:46.440 set up has been you know, I have a lot 0:14:46.480 --> 0:14:49.120 of people shown up for that. Has it drawn a 0:14:49.120 --> 0:14:51.120 lot of you know, new people that are trying to 0:14:51.120 --> 0:14:52.440 get their children vaccinated. 0:14:53.520 --> 0:14:56.960 It's a mix. I feel that our vaccination clinic here 0:14:56.960 --> 0:15:01.440 at our health department's been pretty successful in that we're 0:15:01.480 --> 0:15:04.600 getting people every day coming in to get vaccinated, and 0:15:04.640 --> 0:15:10.120 we're seeing people that were hesitant prior, that had chosen 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:13.560 not to vaccinate their children kind of with the idea, well, 0:15:13.560 --> 0:15:17.280 I've never seen measles or moms or rebella, so why 0:15:17.360 --> 0:15:20.400 give my child a vaccine if that doesn't exist. Now 0:15:20.400 --> 0:15:24.440 that measles are circulating in the community, they're changing that 0:15:24.520 --> 0:15:28.200 thought process and are coming forward to get vaccinated. Some 0:15:28.320 --> 0:15:30.640 of the rural clinics have been a lot harder to 0:15:30.680 --> 0:15:32.680 get people to come in. I mean, they've stood up 0:15:32.720 --> 0:15:35.720 clinics and only a handful of people have come in 0:15:36.480 --> 0:15:41.040 to that clinic that day. So real mixed response. But 0:15:41.120 --> 0:15:44.000 I think is public health, it's important for us to 0:15:44.040 --> 0:15:48.120 be offering the MMR vaccine with as few barriers as possible. 0:15:48.840 --> 0:15:52.800 So you were in this position during the COVID pandemic 0:15:52.840 --> 0:15:55.680 and when that began and all throughout it. So can 0:15:55.720 --> 0:15:57.280 you tell me a little bit what it was like 0:15:57.800 --> 0:16:00.000 working in your role as a public health official ads 0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:03.480 that time, and then also maybe whether things are any 0:16:03.520 --> 0:16:06.000 different today, has anything changed? 0:16:06.360 --> 0:16:11.400 I mean, I think our community did fairly well throughout COVID, 0:16:11.480 --> 0:16:16.320 given you know, everything that went on. I've always believed 0:16:16.360 --> 0:16:18.640 in just being honest and talking about what I do 0:16:18.760 --> 0:16:21.840 know what I don't know, what the science is showing, 0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:26.000 and I think that helped our community get vaccinated and 0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:29.840 take some of the precautions during COVID. And I'm kind 0:16:29.840 --> 0:16:32.680 of taking that same you know, thought process and that 0:16:32.800 --> 0:16:36.600 same you know, leadership style as we're dealing with measles 0:16:36.600 --> 0:16:42.520 out here. You know, with measles, it's a challenge. I 0:16:42.520 --> 0:16:44.680 think people are paying attention to it because it's really 0:16:44.760 --> 0:16:49.160 impacting children, whereas we didn't see, you know, that same 0:16:49.240 --> 0:16:52.680 impact with COVID. It's frustrating because we know what the 0:16:52.680 --> 0:16:57.040 solution is. When COVID showed up, you know, nobody in 0:16:57.080 --> 0:17:00.360 public health and the medical community, you know, knew exactly 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:02.920 what COVID is. With measles, we know what we're dealing 0:17:02.960 --> 0:17:05.680 with and We also have a known solution, which is 0:17:05.720 --> 0:17:09.359 a vaccine, so it is frustrating that people are choosing 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:13.000 not to vaccinate. Still, the other challenges is during COVID, 0:17:13.119 --> 0:17:15.080 all of our other work for public health got put 0:17:15.119 --> 0:17:19.200 on hold. Here with measles, our health Department's still expected 0:17:19.200 --> 0:17:22.280 to do all of our other jobs and respond to 0:17:22.320 --> 0:17:25.880 a measle's outbreak, which is really stressful on staff. 0:17:26.440 --> 0:17:31.479 I can completely understand that in terms of some stressful things. 0:17:31.760 --> 0:17:35.040 I understand that just from doing some background research and 0:17:35.080 --> 0:17:38.360 reading up that your office or maybe even you yourself, 0:17:38.600 --> 0:17:42.119 were subject to some threats or some sort of pretty 0:17:42.400 --> 0:17:46.600 extreme reactions during COVID. Is that the case and is 0:17:46.600 --> 0:17:47.480 that still happening? 0:17:48.040 --> 0:17:50.840 Thankfully, it's not happening. During COVID, we did have some 0:17:51.400 --> 0:17:54.760 very strong opinions and some threats, mostly around when the 0:17:54.840 --> 0:17:58.479 children's vaccine was released and why we were promoting that. 0:17:59.119 --> 0:18:03.920 We have not seen that with measles, which is very good. 0:18:03.960 --> 0:18:06.880 I don't want any of my staff to be threatened. 0:18:07.400 --> 0:18:10.480 I mean, you always got these random posters on people 0:18:10.480 --> 0:18:13.639 that post on social media, but they're not even individuals 0:18:13.680 --> 0:18:14.600 from our community. 0:18:15.200 --> 0:18:18.480 Got it okay? Well, I'm glad to hear that genuinely 0:18:18.560 --> 0:18:21.919 that that is a positive change. I suppose that is 0:18:21.960 --> 0:18:24.080 something that's a good difference. 0:18:24.240 --> 0:18:28.320 And also good support from our pediatricians and the medical 0:18:28.320 --> 0:18:31.440 community has been very good and outspoken about the importance 0:18:31.440 --> 0:18:33.439 of getting vaccinated, which has helped us. 0:18:34.720 --> 0:18:38.919 So where do you see things going from here? I mean, 0:18:38.960 --> 0:18:43.000 do you think we'll continue to see more cases? I 0:18:43.119 --> 0:18:46.000 know that they're on the rise, but do you think 0:18:46.080 --> 0:18:49.240 that will continue? Or do you have other concerns about 0:18:49.240 --> 0:18:53.480 potentially other outbreaks of diseases that had been kind of 0:18:53.480 --> 0:18:55.040 pushed out of circulation coming back. 0:18:55.680 --> 0:19:00.000 Yeah, all of the above. I think in Gains count 0:19:00.160 --> 0:19:03.840 in particular, we don't have a good understanding of where 0:19:03.880 --> 0:19:08.760 we are in the epidemic, like how many vulnerable individuals 0:19:08.800 --> 0:19:11.560 in that community are still remaining, so we don't know 0:19:11.640 --> 0:19:18.880 how long that initial epicenter outbreaks going to last. We're 0:19:18.880 --> 0:19:23.080 also seeing, you know, as measles gets into a community, 0:19:23.200 --> 0:19:27.280 it is so infectious that it is going to find 0:19:27.960 --> 0:19:31.960 all of those little pockets of people that are unvaccinated. 0:19:32.119 --> 0:19:34.679 And that's what we're seeing here in Lubbott County is 0:19:35.720 --> 0:19:39.320 you know, measles taking hold and finding little pockets and 0:19:39.480 --> 0:19:42.280 public health trying to go put out you know, little fires, 0:19:43.040 --> 0:19:45.440 trying to make sure that we've figured out who's been 0:19:45.480 --> 0:19:46.800 exposed and who's at risk. 0:19:47.640 --> 0:19:50.240 You described, you know, how this is an incredibly infectious 0:19:50.240 --> 0:19:54.440 disease and it is you know, finding all the pockets 0:19:54.880 --> 0:19:58.520 people that are vulnerable or not vaccinated. And so I'm 0:19:58.560 --> 0:20:01.680 wondering if you can, you know, if they're any examples 0:20:02.080 --> 0:20:05.720 or specifics that you could share about how the outbreak 0:20:05.800 --> 0:20:09.959 is impacting communities or particular communities. Has it resulted in 0:20:10.080 --> 0:20:14.880 disruptions in school for children, Has it caused any other 0:20:14.960 --> 0:20:19.080 sort of notable breakdowns or sort of pauses in day 0:20:19.119 --> 0:20:21.960 to day regular activity in Lubbic. 0:20:22.560 --> 0:20:28.600 You know, those breakdowns have been more minor that a child, 0:20:28.600 --> 0:20:33.159 say that's unvaccinated's been exposed and that's requiring that child 0:20:33.200 --> 0:20:36.840 to sit out from school. So there is that, you know, 0:20:37.080 --> 0:20:42.520 element that they're missing those important days of education. Our 0:20:42.520 --> 0:20:46.040 bigger impacts here have been around daycares. We had a 0:20:46.119 --> 0:20:49.359 large outbreak, or large in the sense that we've had 0:20:49.840 --> 0:20:53.320 now eight children or eight individuals associated with one daycare 0:20:53.720 --> 0:20:58.000 all test positive with measles. So that's meant that you know, 0:20:58.440 --> 0:21:01.639 children have had to be sent home from daycare, which 0:21:01.680 --> 0:21:07.080 then impacts parents' ability to work and also impacts you know, 0:21:07.880 --> 0:21:10.159 you know, daycare along with you know, the number of 0:21:10.240 --> 0:21:12.800 students there children having to go home that have been 0:21:12.840 --> 0:21:17.480 exposed working a lot to get additional doses of vaccine 0:21:17.480 --> 0:21:21.159 into a daycare. So it both impacts the public health system, 0:21:21.440 --> 0:21:24.720 our healthcare system because kids need health, but then it 0:21:24.760 --> 0:21:28.440 also impacts parents because if your child's not in daycare, 0:21:28.880 --> 0:21:31.919 a parent can't go to work. Those have been the 0:21:31.920 --> 0:21:36.600 bigger disruptions and then disruptions in our healthcare system that 0:21:36.640 --> 0:21:38.800 we're now having to do a lot of screen Like 0:21:38.800 --> 0:21:40.960 you call to make an appointment for the doctor, and 0:21:41.000 --> 0:21:44.080 it's kind of like COVID, have you been exposed to measles? 0:21:44.359 --> 0:21:47.720 Are you vaccinated? They're asking all those screening questions before 0:21:47.760 --> 0:21:49.960 people enter our healthcare facilities. 0:21:50.960 --> 0:21:54.919 In terms of sort of interactions with the state and 0:21:55.000 --> 0:21:57.120 their response to this, can you tell me a little 0:21:57.160 --> 0:22:00.320 bit more about how the State of Texas has responded 0:22:00.560 --> 0:22:03.040 and partnered with local authorities. 0:22:02.880 --> 0:22:06.600 So we have a good working relationship with the State 0:22:06.640 --> 0:22:10.600 of Texas. Texas has to do everything differently, so we 0:22:10.760 --> 0:22:15.240 kind of have this decentralized system where the state and 0:22:15.359 --> 0:22:19.040 locals both kind of have their own authority, very independent 0:22:19.160 --> 0:22:22.960 at the county level, but the state is offered support 0:22:23.040 --> 0:22:27.119 to us. They've helped me bring in temp nurses to 0:22:27.119 --> 0:22:30.439 be able to assist with vaccine clinics. They're paying for 0:22:30.520 --> 0:22:34.919 some additional staff d answer phones, so we're getting that 0:22:35.040 --> 0:22:37.560 kind of support. And then I meet with the state, 0:22:37.840 --> 0:22:40.840 you know, regularly about what's going on in Lubbock, how 0:22:40.920 --> 0:22:43.439 Lubbock fits in the context of the rest of this outbreak, 0:22:43.960 --> 0:22:46.919 and you know, how we're going to work together to 0:22:46.920 --> 0:22:52.480 move forward. We always thought of measles as an airplane 0:22:52.560 --> 0:22:56.280 ride away, so we would see, you know, somebody travel 0:22:56.320 --> 0:22:59.720 to a foreign country, come back to the United States 0:23:00.040 --> 0:23:03.080 and maybe pass measles to a couple of people in 0:23:03.119 --> 0:23:08.240 their household. This outbreak is not that we're seeing transmission 0:23:08.760 --> 0:23:11.639 within a community, and it's making measles more of a 0:23:11.680 --> 0:23:17.320 car ride away. And that's concerning because we have individuals 0:23:17.359 --> 0:23:20.800 that are susceptible to measles, either through to young to 0:23:20.840 --> 0:23:25.919 be vaccinated, not vaccinated, or some other immune compromised state. 0:23:26.400 --> 0:23:29.680 So just concerning that we're going to see more outbreaks 0:23:30.160 --> 0:23:33.119 spreading out into the United States, especially as we're moving 0:23:33.160 --> 0:23:36.760 into spring and summer where people are traveling and driving 0:23:36.760 --> 0:23:41.760 through communities that we could just see kind of explode everywhere, 0:23:42.400 --> 0:23:44.560 which is my biggest fear. Yeah. 0:23:44.600 --> 0:23:45.399 Absolutely. 0:23:45.800 --> 0:23:50.000 I mean, given that vaccinations and to some degree, public 0:23:50.000 --> 0:23:53.879 health in general has kind of become a politicized issue, 0:23:53.920 --> 0:23:56.520 I can only imagine that it can make it quite 0:23:56.520 --> 0:24:00.679 difficult for you to convey these messages to people for 0:24:00.760 --> 0:24:01.920 them to understand them. 0:24:02.400 --> 0:24:04.320 Yeah, and I'm talking. I mean I've talked to many 0:24:04.359 --> 0:24:09.160 health department directors across the country, and you know, one 0:24:09.200 --> 0:24:11.639 of the values of local public health is that you know, 0:24:11.720 --> 0:24:14.720 all of us local health department directors and those staff 0:24:15.000 --> 0:24:18.480 were coming from these individuals, communities and our goals to 0:24:18.560 --> 0:24:20.960 keep our community safe. And it really doesn't matter what's 0:24:21.000 --> 0:24:26.800 happening at the federal level. It's about your community, your connections, 0:24:27.240 --> 0:24:30.240