RFK Jr. says MMR vaccine is 'the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles'

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is now recommending the measles vaccine to help stop the spread of the current measles outbreak.

This comes after an 8-year-old in Texas died of complications from the measles last week.

That child was not vaccinated and is now the third recent measles-related death in the United States.

Kennedy previously shared mixed messages about the vaccine.

But in a statement posted to X Sunday, he said it is the quote "most effective way to prevent the spread of measles."

As of Friday, Texas has reported 481 outbreak-associated cases, according to the Texas Department of Health.

Texas' first measles death linked to the ongoing outbreak was in an unvaccinated school-aged child in February. A death in New Mexico remains under investigation.

The outbreak - now spanning Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and possibly Kansas - reached at least 569 cases Friday, according to data obtained from state health departments.

In Texas, nearly all outbreak-related cases were in unvaccinated people, and 70% were among children and teens, health department data shows. Many of those cases have broken out in West Texas, with Gaines County accounting for nearly 66% of cases.

In Lubbock County, which accounts for nearly 7% of the confirmed cases in Texas, UMC Health has started offering drive-up measles screenings at both of its 24/7 urgent care centers.

Meanwhile, New Mexico has reported 54 cases, and Oklahoma reported 10 cases - eight confirmed and two probable - as of Friday. Cases in Kansas, which the state health department said may be linked to the outbreak, reached 24 as of Wednesday.

Many of those cases are among unvaccinated people, and experts say the numbers are most likely a severe undercount because many cases go unreported.

With most reported cases among minors, experts worry about increasing hospitalizations, especially in younger children who are at higher risk of complications.

"The more children who get the disease means that there's an increased chance that there will be more children getting sicker with complications from measles," said Dr. Christina Johns, a pediatric emergency physician at PM Pediatrics in Annapolis, Maryland.

US Sen. Bill Cassidy, who is a physician, called on top health officials Sunday to address the measles outbreak.

"Everyone should be vaccinated! There is no treatment for measles. No benefit to getting measles. Top health officials should say so unequivocally b/4 another child dies," Cassidy wrote on X.

Kennedy has downplayed the severity of the outbreak and faced criticism of the agency's response.

Kennedy's response to the outbreak has been "abysmal," said Dr. Paul Offit, the director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Philadelphia Children's Hospital.

Offit highlighted the secretary's history of decrying vaccines and minimizing the risk of measles.

"The disease has returned because a critical percentage of parents have chosen not to vaccinate their children, in large part because of misinformation provided by people like RFK Jr," he said.

CNN contributed to this post.