--- description: Outbreak has now spread to 14 states title: White House Urges Measles Vaccinations As Numbers of Sick Passes 100 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5399ddc6bc5f033f/69877d14428a9e1833cc6e92/462420482.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Infectious Disease](/tag/infectious-disease/) ## Infectious Disease Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # White House Urges Measles Vaccinations  by [Mandy Oaklander](/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Jan 31, 2015 6:30 PM CUT  Miami Children's Hospital pediatrician Dr. Amanda Porro, M.D prepares to administer a measles vaccination to Sophie Barquin, 4, as her mother Gabrielle Barquin holds her during a visit to the Miami Children's Hospital on Jan. 28, 2015 in Miami. Miami Children's Hospital pediatrician Dr. Amanda Porro, M.D prepares to administer a measles vaccination to Sophie Barquin, 4, as her mother Gabrielle Barquin holds her during a visit to the Miami Children's Hospital on Jan. 28, 2015 in Miami.Joe Raedle—Getty Images  by [Mandy Oaklander](/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Jan 31, 2015 6:30 PM CUT The White House said on Friday that parents should be “listening to our public health officials,” who urge vaccinations against measles, as it emerged the disease has now [infected more than 100](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/31/measles-outbreak%5Fn%5F6583384.html "undefined") people in the U.S. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said that President Obama thinks parents should ultimately make their own decision whether or not to vaccinate their children, _Reuters_ reports, but added that the science clearly points to vaccinating. “People should evaluate this for themselves with a bias toward good science and toward the advice of our public health professionals,” said Earnest. According to [new numbers](http://www.cdph.ca.gov/HealthInfo/discond/Pages/Measles.aspx "undefined") from the California Department of Public Health, 91 of the confirmed cases are in California, ground zero for the recent U.S. measles outbreak that began in December. 58 of those cases are believed to be linked to the December Disneyland outbreak, where it likely [arrived from overseas.](http://time.com/3688914/disneyland-measles-outbreak-overseas/ "undefined") Measles has quickly spread to 13 other states—Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, Nebraska, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Washington state—and Mexico. Measles was wiped from the U.S. in 2000, but CDC health officials say it’s back because [some people aren’t getting vaccinated](http://time.com/3688914/disneyland-measles-outbreak-overseas/ "undefined"). The [New York](http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/01/31/us/vaccine-critics-turn-defensive-over-measles.html?%5Fr=1 "undefined")[ _Times_](http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/01/31/us/vaccine-critics-turn-defensive-over-measles.html?%5Fr=1 "undefined")published interviews Saturday with several parents who oppose vaccination for their children; one woman, Kelly McMenimen, told the newspaper that she “meditated on it a lot” about the vaccine but decided she didn’t want “so many toxins” entering her 8-year-old son. The majority of new measles cases are in people who aren’t vaccinated, and California is especially vulnerable. Once a baseline vaccination rate dips below 95%, a community becomes less protected against the disease—and [California is now at 92%](http://time.com/3664553/disneyland-measles-antivaxxers/ "undefined"). \[[_Reuters_](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/31/measles-outbreak%5Fn%5F6583384.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3691079/measles-vaccinations-white-house/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3691079/measles-vaccinations-white-house/"},"headline":"White House Urges Measles Vaccinations","datePublished":"2015-01-31T18:30:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T04:02:40.267Z","description":"Outbreak has now spread to 14 states","url":"https://time.com/3691079/measles-vaccinations-white-house/","keywords":["Infectious Disease","Vaccines","measles","vaccination"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5399ddc6bc5f033f/69877d14428a9e1833cc6e92/462420482.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mandy Oaklander","jobTitle":"Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5399ddc6bc5f033f/69877d14428a9e1833cc6e92/462420482.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Demand For Measles Vaccine Increases As Outbreak Started At Disneyland In California Spreads","caption":"Demand For Measles Vaccine Increases As Outbreak Started At Disneyland In California Spreads","creditText":"Joe Raedle—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/infectious-disease/","name":"Infectious Disease"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3691079/measles-vaccinations-white-house/","name":"White House Urges Measles Vaccinations"}}]}] ```