As the risk of measles grows, why are parents so divided on vaccines?

## Summary
March 14, 2026 8:42 AM ET Heard on Weekend Edition Saturday Maria Godoy In South Carolina, measles shows how far apart neighbors can be on vaccines Listen · 6:10 6:10 Toggle more options Download Embed Embed < iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5734051/nx-s1-9688071" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Kate Morrow and her 8-year-old twins, Jack and Lilly, at their home in Spartanburg County, S.C. Mike Belleme for NPR hide caption toggle caption Mike Belleme for NPR When Kate Morrow gave birth to twins eight years ago, they were very premature, with compromised immune systems. "We counted on the community to keep our children safe," Morrow says. Mike Belleme for NPR hide caption toggle caption Mike Belleme for NPR Morrow says it's hard for her to understand why so many parents in her community are turning against vaccines. "How did we get here?" she asks. "How did we get to a place where we don't trust our doctors to do the very best thing for our children? Mike Belleme for NPR hide caption toggle caption Mike Belleme for NPR In the majority of states, parents can apply for nonmedical exemptions to required vaccines for religious, personal or philosophical reasons.

## Article Content
Health
As the risk of measles grows, why are parents so divided on vaccines?
March 14, 2026
8:42 AM ET
Heard on
Weekend Edition Saturday
Maria Godoy
In South Carolina, measles shows how far apart neighbors can be on vaccines
Listen
·
6:10
6:10
Toggle more options
Download
Embed
Embed
<
iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5734051/nx-s1-9688071" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Kate Morrow and her 8-year-old twins, Jack and Lilly, at their home in Spartanburg County, S.C. Morrow struggles to understand why many of her neighbors haven't vaccinated their kids.
Mike Belleme for NPR
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Mike Belleme for NPR
When Kate Morrow gave birth to twins eight years ago, they were very premature, with compromised immune systems.
"We counted on the community to keep our children safe," Morrow says. She trusted that her neighbors were vaccinating their children to protect other vulnerable people in her community — including her twins. But that's no longer the case.
Morrow and her family moved to Spartanburg County, S.C., in 2019. The area is the epicenter of the biggest measles outbreak in the U.S. in more than three decades, with nearly 1,000 confirmed cases. Measles — one of the world's
most contagious diseases
— was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, thanks to widespread vaccination and school vaccine requirements.
But with the current resurgence of measles, the country is
at risk of losing
that elimination status.
Health
The U.S. will likely lose its measles elimination status. Here's what that means
In Spartanburg County, school vaccination rates have fallen to just under 89% — well below the 95% threshold needed to prevent community outbreaks.
And it's not just Spartanburg. There are places around the country where vaccination rates have sunk to levels low enough to allow outbreaks to flare, says
Michael Osterholm
, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.
"There are a lot more South Carolinas waiting to happen," he says.
Spartanburg County is the epicenter of the largest measles outbreak in the U.S. in decades.
Mike Belleme for NPR
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Mike Belleme for NPR
Morrow says it's hard for her to understand why so many parents in her community are turning against vaccines.
"How did we get here?" she asks. "How did we get to a place where we don't trust our doctors to do the very best thing for our children? How did we get to a place where vaccinations have become political?"
The answer is a mix of widespread misinformation, lingering resentment over COVID mandates, and politicians at the local and national level who are sowing mistrust of vaccines.
'I don't trust anything anymore'
Margarita DeLuca says she didn't give much thought to vaccines until COVID hit. She has three children and lives in neighboring Greenville County. When the COVID vaccine was first rolled out, DeLuca was scared that it had been developed too quickly to be trustworthy, and she was opposed to vaccine mandates.
"I think it should have been a choice. It shouldn't have been shoved down your throat like you have to do it," DeLuca says.
Margarita DeLuca's eldest child got all his routine vaccinations until his 2-year-old shots. After he developed a fever and had a seizure, DeLuca worried the vaccines were to blame.
Mike Belleme for NPR
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Mike Belleme for NPR
DeLuca is not alone. Resentment over vaccine mandates and other public health measures during the pandemic prompted more parents to question vaccine requirements, says Dr. Martha Edwards, president of
the South Carolina chapter
of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
"COVID hit and people really didn't like the mandates and that was a big boiling point," Edwards says. "And in South Carolina, that really has caused a lot of people to escalate their feelings of 'don't tell me what to do.' "
Still, when DeLuca's eldest child, Nikko, was born in the summer of 2021, she got him his routine shots for the first couple of years of his life.
But about a week after he got his 2-year-old vaccinations, Nikko spiked a fever and experienced a seizure.
"He froze up and then he started convulsing right in my arms — the scariest thing ever," DeLuca recalls.
Nikko recovered. Her pediatrician at the time told her
these seizures can happen
when toddlers get high fevers, and it's unlikely vaccines played a role. But DeLuca remains dubious.
"He hasn't had any seizures since. But he hasn't had any vaccines either. I'm not saying it's from that, but there is a chance," she says.
So, like a growing number of parents nationwide, DeLuca decided to forgo vaccinations for Nikko, now 4, and his twin infant siblings.
"I'm grateful that I did not vaccinate them right now," she says. "Maybe at 5 years old, their bodies are bigger and they have a higher immune system. They can handle things."
Local pediatrician Stuart Simko with Prisma

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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
N/A

### Areas for Consideration
- Health As the risk of measles grows, why are parents so divided on vaccines?
- But with the current resurgence of measles, the country is at risk of losing that elimination status.
- And he tries to explain why delaying vaccinations is risky . "This is the time where your child is at a higher risk, the younger they are, for complications from many of the things that we vaccinate against," he says.

### Implications
- Health The U.S. will likely lose its measles elimination status.
- There are places around the country where vaccination rates have sunk to levels low enough to allow outbreaks to flare, says Michael Osterholm , director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. "There are a lot more South Carolinas waiting to happen," he says.
- When the COVID vaccine was first rolled out, DeLuca was scared that it had been developed too quickly to be trustworthy, and she was opposed to vaccine mandates. "I think it should have been a choice.
- The result is that vaccination rates among school children are dropping.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers measles, vaccines, spartanburg topics. Areas of concern are also raised. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 2391.