Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), said Americans should get vaccinated against measles in an interview with Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “Should people fear measles?” Bash asked. “Oh, for sure. We, actually, are pretty aggressive at CMS. We fund any vaccine you want to take. There will never be a barrier to Americans getting access to the measles vaccine,” Oz said. “Take the vaccine, please. We have a solution for our problem. Not all illnesses are equally dangerous, and not all people are equally susceptible to those illnesses. But measles is one you should get your vaccine,” he continued. Footage below: BASH: "Should people fear measles?"OZ: "Oh for sure…"BASH: "As a doctor, your message to people about the measles vaccine?"OZ: "Take the vaccine, please." pic.twitter.com/gqrWBN38n9 — State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) February 8, 2026 The Hill has more: As of Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed 733 measles cases in the U.S. so far this year. Three percent of those individuals have been hospitalized, while 95 percent of those who have contracted measles were unvaccinated, the CDC noted. Arizona, South Carolina and Utah are experiencing outbreaks dating back to last year, with those states reporting a combined 1,410 cases. Nearly 30 percent of measles cases in the U.S. this year have been found in children younger than 5, with more than half among those from ages 5 to 19, according to the CDC. Last year, the center confirmed 2,276 measles cases nationwide, with 11 percent resulting in hospitalizations. That marked the highest number of cases since the disease was declared eliminated at the turn of the century. In January, the U.S. reached 12 consecutive months of measles transmission, meeting a key condition for losing its elimination status. According to The Defender, an official with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said vaccination against measles doesn’t guarantee immunity. PER THE CDC: Vaccination does NOT guarantee immunity against measles. pic.twitter.com/bUFc6nwgva — Children’s Health Defense (@ChildrensHD) February 5, 2026 The Defender explained further: Dr. Ralph Abraham, principal deputy director of the CDC, made the statement just days after the agency released a report showing that some of the people infected during an outbreak of the disease in Colorado last year had been vaccinated. In a Feb. 1 letter published by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Abraham wrote, “although immunization coverage for measles is superior in the U.S. compared to peer countries, we can’t rely exclusively on vaccination.” Abraham’s letter followed last week’s edition of the CDC’s “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report,” which published details about the May-June 2025 measles outbreak in Colorado. According to the report, the outbreak started with an unvaccinated person who arrived in Denver on an international flight, leading to the infection of 10 people in Colorado — nine secondary cases, or people who had direct contact with the infected person, and one tertiary case, resulting from contact with a secondary case. Of the secondary cases, four occurred “among persons who had received 2 doses of measles, mumps, and rubella [MMR] vaccine before exposure,” according to the CDC. Four other cases involved people who were unvaccinated. All recovered. “Although vaccinated individuals are at low risk of acquiring measles, breakthrough infections can still happen. This was the case for four vaccinated air travelers,” the CDC wrote in a post on X earlier this week.