New Jersey
N.J.’s herd immunity from measles is gone. Get your kids vaccinated early, experts warn
Public health experts are recommending that infants aged 6 to 11 months get an early dose of the Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccination, also known as the MMR vaccine, in addition to the two shots they get in early childhood.
Currently, public health guidelines only recommend an early additional MMR dose for infants traveling internationally.
However, New Jersey has lost its herd immunity, putting unvaccinated people, especially children, more at risk — mirroring a trend across the United States as vaccination coverage wanes and outbreaks increase, including two confirmed deaths from measles and one under investigation.
In response to what they call “a growing domestic hazard,” a group of experts is calling for the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to expand the recommendation of an early additional MMR dose for infants aged 6 to 11 months traveling to locations in the U.S. with measles outbreaks.
An outbreak is defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as three or more cases related cases in a community. For example, Erie County in Pennsylvania declared a measles outbreak on Tuesday.
Historically, unvaccinated children returning from international travel to regions where measles remains endemic have been the biggest source of U.S. measles cases.
“However, multiple recent U.S. measles outbreaks, coupled with low vaccination rates, signal a growing domestic hazard,” wrote authors of the article “Revising U.S. MMR Vaccine Recommendations Amid Changing Domestic Risks” in JAMA, a peer-reviewed general medical journal.
The recommendation comes at a time of increased risk in New Jersey, where the chance of catching measles is higher now than it was five years ago.
“Unfortunately, post-pandemic, as a state we have dipped below that herd immunity,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Kaitlan Baston during an April 7 Assembly Budget Committee hearing on the fiscal year 2026 budget.
Public health experts say that measles control depends on herd immunity of 95% vaccination coverage and that rate has been declining in the U.S. and in New Jersey, while the number of people going unvaccinated climbs.
The CDC recommends children get two doses of MMR vaccine, starting with the first dose at 12 to 15 months of age, and the second dose at 4 to 6 years old.
As of 2023, 93% of kindergartners in the state have received two or more doses of MMR vaccine, which is slightly above the national average of 92.7%, but still a decline from the state’s 2022-23 vaccination rate of 94.3%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
There are pockets of the state that have an even lower vaccination rate than the state average, said Baston earlier this month.
READ MORE: More kids are going unvaccinated in N.J. See the county-by-county list.
“I often say we’ve moved from the information age to the misinformation age. There’s so much bad information out there and it’s tough for families, right?” Baston said to lawmakers.
“But this is one thing that they could check off their worry list and just get the vaccinations their kids need and then it’s one preventable tragedy that we shouldn’t have to face,” said Baston, a primary care physician.
Just four months through the year, the number of measles cases reported in 2025 has already exceeded all those recorded in 2024. In Texas, there have also been two documented deaths, the first measles deaths in the U.S. in over a decade.
“We are very concerned that this is going to become a very big issue within the next five years,” said Assemblywoman Ellen Park, D-Bergen, during the hearing.
Measles is a highly contagious respiratory disease caused by a virus. It spreads easily through coughing and sneezing. Even after an infected person has left the room, the virus can remain present in the air for up to two hours, according to the CDC.
Before the introduction of vaccines in 1963, the CDC estimates about 50,000 people were hospitalized for measles each year and 500 people died annually from the disease, most of them children.
Even small declines in measles vaccine coverage can lead to outbreaks, public health experts say.
There may even be a higher risk of measles exposure in parts of the U.S. than other international destinations, according to public health experts. Protection for infants is critical because they face a heightened risk of severe measles-related complications, including pneumonia, encephalitis, and death, according to the CDC.
Symptoms of measles include a high fever, cough, runny nose, watery red eyes, and a red rash that begins at the hairline, according to the CDC.
The rash usually starts three to five days after the other symptoms. People can spread measles to others from four days before through four days after the rash appears.
Ninety-seven percent of the cases reported in the United States for 2025 are among people who had not received the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine or have unknown vaccination status, according to the CDC.
As of April 10, a total of 712 confirmed measles cases were reported by 25 states, according to the CDC. Of those infected, 79 have been hospitalized with two deaths.
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Jackie Roman may be reached at jroman@njadvancemedia.com.
It’s been nearly a decade and a half since the Brooklyn Nets moved out of New Jersey.
The organization has completely revamped its vibe since switching states, ditching the red, white and blue look for a very basic black and white colorway.
The Nets have also intermittently changed the colors of the banners hanging up in the Barclays Center from red, white and blue to black and white, much to the chagrin of traditional Nets fans.
Despite the Nets now playing in a bigger market and being far removed from their days in the Garden State, some fans seem to hope for the Nets to make their return across the river. New Jersey governor Mikie Sherrill was asked about the matter.
“I mean, would I support it? I ask about it all the time,” Sherrill said. “I love the idea. So, I have been pressing for that. I haven’t made a lot of headway yet; you know, maybe in my second 100 days.
“But I do think there is some work being done for some — I don’t know if I’m allowed to say too much about it — but some people are working on some different sports coming into the Rock.”
As time went on, the Nets eventually started to embrace more of their New Jersey roots, which started when they rocked a clean tie-dye jersey from the 90s during the 2020-21 season.
The next season, the Nets followed it up with uniforms commemorating their run in the 2000s, when the team got to the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003 and endlessly broke the ESPN top 10 with each crazy Jason Kidd assist and Vince Carter dunk.
It’s fitting that Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, the latter of whom grew up in New Jersey as a Nets fan, got to rock these uniforms, helping boost the popularity of the New Jersey brand to a wide array of fans.
True Nets fans embraced the Continental Airlines Arena/Izod Center and the swamps of East Rutherford, getting to witness a winning basketball team for a fraction of the cost of the team mired in dysfunction that happened to play their home games at “The World’s Most Famous Arena.”
Not many marquee free agents would have signed up to play in New Jersey, but real fans remember the good times in the swamps, especially with Sly the Fox as the team’s mascot. Those times deserve to be remembered properly.
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ATLANTIC COUNTY, N.J. (WPVI) — Drivers heading to the shore on Friday afternoon saw slow-moving traffic for several miles coming off the Walt Whitman bridge, but many travelers said the start of the holiday weekend was smoother than they anticipated.
Aldara Madden, who was traveling with her friend Elana Maser, said the trip moved faster than she expected.
“I was expecting it to take a lot longer,” she said.
Maser added that they left school early to avoid delays.
“My mom and I do that every year and then we always stop here as our little pre-down the shore,” she said.
Others shared similar experiences.
“I’m coming from Bucks County, so I was worried there was gonna be some traffic but it really wasn’t bad at all,” said Erin McFadden of Churchville, who was headed to Ocean City.
AAA reported that while slightly more people are traveling by car this year compared to last, 2026 is projected to have the lowest year-over-year travel growth rate in more than a decade, excluding the steep drop seen in 2020 during the pandemic.
The organization attributes the slowdown largely to concerns over rising prices.
“Gas is ridiculously expensive and I think all the time before going anywhere these days,” said Debbie Maser of Philadelphia. “But this is our happy place and nothing can keep us away.”
A dreary weekend forecast may also be influencing travel patterns.
“I was thinking that, I wonder if there’ll be less congestion on the roads because of the weather,” said Kyra Wolin of Massachusetts. “It’s not looking to be too good this weekend with the rain.”
Still, many shore-bound travelers said tradition outweighs any concerns about rain or crowds.
“No not at all. You go down. You get it done,” said George Miller of Lansdale.
Eric Wolin of Massachusetts agreed: “Never, never. Margate’s a special place for us.”
As the unofficial start of summer begins, travelers said they remain committed to kicking off the season in their favorite spots, not letting rain, traffic, or high prices keep them away.
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This story is part of the WHYY News Climate Desk, bringing you news and solutions for our changing region.
From the Poconos to the Jersey Shore to the mouth of the Delaware Bay, what do you want to know about climate change? What would you like us to cover? Get in touch.
As summer begins, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill is urging residents to limit lawn watering, and hand water flowers and shrubs as a drought warning continues. The warning, in place since December 2025, could turn into a drought emergency if conditions do not improve. The state has suffered eight consecutive months of below-normal rainfall, according to officials.
“New Jersey is experiencing a chronic water supply drought, the scale of which we haven’t seen in more than twenty years,” state geologist Steven Domber said in a statement issued earlier this month. “The indicators that we track closely are showing persistently dry conditions. With uncertainty for rainfall in the coming months, we need residents to conserve water today, to ensure we have enough to sustain our needs over the summer.”
The Department of Environmental Protection uses a variety of indicators to determine drought levels, including precipitation, stream flows, reservoir levels, ground water levels and demand.
In addition to the last two months, officials say, the state “experienced below normal precipitation for 20 of the last 24 months since September 2024,” despite heavy snowfall events this past winter that helped restore reservoirs in North Jersey.
“While we saw a little relief over the winter, New Jersey is feeling the effects of nearly two years of below-normal precipitation,” Sherrill said in a statement earlier this month. She urged residents to voluntarily conserve water.
New Jersey state climatologist David Robinson said that since precipitation has been below normal for most of the last 24 months, the recent winter weather did not provide enough water to help restore streams and groundwater.
Should a drought emergency be declared, mandatory water restrictions would be put in place. The last drought emergency lasted almost a year, between March 2002 and January 2003.
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